


That Magic Threshold

by Ivalee



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Libraries, M/M, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:56:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 33,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7994386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivalee/pseuds/Ivalee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Youth Services Librarian, Merlin does his best to attract teen patrons to the Camelot Public Library, but so far only a few kids are interested. Then inspiration strikes, and with the help of his boss, Arthur, Merlin creates a treasure hunt that sends his kids into all sections of the historic library building. But The Quest isn’t the only treasure the library holds, and both Merlin and Arthur are soon drawn into a deeper mystery — one that will lead them to uncover a hidden secret from the library’s past, as well as their own true destiny.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That Magic Threshold

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the ACBB mods for all your hard work to keep this wonderful fest going! I have so much fun with this every year!
> 
> Thank you so much to [Schweet Heart](http://archiveofourown.org/users/schweet_heart/pseuds/schweet_heart) for beta-reading. Your notes are always so helpful! And your encouragement and flailing over this story made me smile so hard and made it easier to keep writing even when I was stressed!
> 
> And [Rou](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rou/pseuds/rou)! Our third ACBB together! I'm so lucky! :-) You know how much I adore you and your gorgeous art. I honestly think you might have some of Merlin's powers. Your magical manips make my stories come to life! Thank you so much for your patience with my slow writing this year and for being such a sweet friend! :-) Everyone go check out the [art masterpost](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7953616) and give Rou all the love she deserves!
> 
> Warning: There is a minor character death in this story.

  


_“At the moment that we persuade a child, any child, to cross that threshold, that magic threshold into a library, we change their lives forever, for the better. It's an enormous force for good.”_ \- Barack Obama

  
  


Merlin stood in the basement meeting room of the Camelot Public Library, frowning at the chipping paint on the cracked drywall and wishing, not for the first time, that the library could scrape together enough money to renovate. One fluorescent bulb flickered overhead, and he sighed, walking over to the long table against one wall to arrange the snacks he had prepared for the Young Adult Book Club.

He filled a large bowl with crisps and another with pretzels. He set out a tray of flatbread and hummus, because Gwen was on a Mediterranean kick lately, and another tray of chips and salsa, because Lance preferred spicy snacks. He artfully arranged a plate of fresh veggies mostly for Vivian, who wouldn’t touch carbs. And he completed the line-up with two plates of cookies, without nuts, because Elena was allergic.

After he was satisfied with the snack table, Merlin examined the circle of ten chairs in the middle of the room, debating whether he should expand it by adding a few from the stack in the corner.

He decided it wouldn’t hurt and was in the process of dragging two chairs toward the circle when Arthur walked into the room. “Um, are you expecting a big crowd, Merlin?” He eyed the plentiful snack table with great amusement. “Don’t you usually only have three or four kids show up?”

“I know. But last week, we did that game night, you know, that the Teen Advisory Group suggested, and Lance got a bunch of his teammates to come, and Vivian told a lot of the girls from school that the football team would be here, and we had so many kids that we ran out of snacks, and I just don’t want that to happen again.”

Arthur snorted. “Yes, but that was to play video games, not to discuss a book, Merlin.”

“You never know! I really talked up this book club, and some of them seemed interested. Especially when they found out there’s a movie based on the book coming out later this year.”

Arthur gave him a pitying look but remained silent. He strolled to the snack table and snatched a few tortilla chips, scooping them into the salsa. “Morgana texted me a few minutes ago.”

Merlin stopped rearranging the chairs and joined Arthur. “Oh yeah? What did she decide?”

“She’s going to go through with it.” He sounded disappointed. “She’s going to sue our father for breach of contract.”

The Pendragon family dynamics were something of a mystery to Merlin. He had grown up with just him and his mum, and they got along well. They had never been wealthy by any means, but Hunith did the best she could at providing him with everything he needed, and every year on his birthday, she somehow scraped together enough money to buy him a few new books and toys. Since Merlin had moved to Camelot, they still spoke on the phone at least once a week.

But Arthur’s family was different from everything he was used to. His father, Uther, owned several large companies, so Arthur had grown up quite wealthy, always wearing the best clothes, able to buy the latest gadgets, even receiving his own car at the age of sixteen, but he was mostly raised by nannies. His father thought he was grooming him to one day take over the business, and he was exceedingly disappointed when Arthur chose a different career path.

Arthur’s half-sister, Morgana, however, rose quickly through the ranks of Pendragon Enterprises and seemed poised to become Uther’s number two, but after promising her the position, Uther had inexplicably given the job to an old friend.

“I’m sorry,” Merlin said. “I know that’s going to be difficult.”

Merlin knew Arthur still felt guilty for all the arguments he and his father had about Arthur’s career, so he had a tendency to stick up for his father in other areas, even when he knew him to be wrong. In this case, Merlin actually agreed with Morgana and felt she was justified in taking Uther to court, but Arthur was his friend as well as his boss, so when Arthur brought up the subject, Merlin simply offered sympathy and didn’t share his opinion.

Arthur was busying himself by pushing Merlin’s carefully arranged plates around on the table, but Merlin knew he was upset, so he ground his teeth and resisted the urge to readjust each plate as soon as Arthur’s nervous fingers moved on to the next one.

“Well, I just hope she’s hired a competent lawyer, because my father has the best legal team in the business.”

“Mmm.” Merlin glared at Arthur’s hands as they edged toward the forks and napkins, but thankfully at that moment Gwen and Lance appeared at the door.

“Are we early?” Gwen asked. “We can go look at books until it’s time to start.”

“No, no.” Merlin gave Arthur a gentle push away from the snack table. “Arthur was just leaving.”

Arthur greeted Gwen and Lance on his way out the door and then turned back to Merlin. “Let me know if you need more chairs.”

“Shut up.” But Arthur was already out the door, his laughter echoing off the stone walls of the basement hallway.

Gwen placed her copy of the book they would be discussing on one of the chairs and then joined Lance to get some snacks. “I can’t believe you talk to your boss that way, Merlin. My dad would be sacked in a second if he told his boss to shut up.”

Merlin chuckled. “Well, Arthur and I have been friends since uni. We’ve always joked around like that. That’s just what guys do, isn’t it, Lance?”

Lance laughed through a mouthful of crisps. “I suppose so.”

“Will any of your mates be joining us today?” Merlin cringed at the transparent hopefulness in his voice.

But Lance shook his head. “I doubt it. They don’t really like to read. They had fun at the game night, though, and Gwaine and Percy said they’d definitely come back if we do it again.”

He loaded his plate with snacks and took a seat beside Gwen. Merlin glanced around the giant circle of empty chairs and felt his ears start to burn. He quickly started pulling chairs toward the far wall to close in the circle.

“I think there was a big meeting in here earlier.”

He hoped Gwen and Lance didn’t realize he was covering for the fact that he’d gotten his hopes up for a larger crowd today. He realised that he probably shouldn’t be so concerned about the judgment of the only teenagers who actually showed up to library programs on a regular basis - although, he had often wondered if Lance only came because it meant he got to spend time with Gwen.

At the moment, the pair had their heads bent over Gwen’s mobile, snickering together about something on the screen. Merlin didn’t want to seem like he was intruding, so once the chairs were depleted to a more reasonable number, he busied himself pretending to flip through a political pamphlet someone had left on a desk in the corner.

“Book club! Book club! It’s time for book club!” Elena danced into the room, waving her copy of the book over her head. “OMG. This book, you guys. This book!”

Gwen and Lance jumped apart from each other and grinned at Elena. Gwen laughed. “Let me guess, you liked Kaleb the best.”

“Um, of course! He wanted to save all the puppies and the kitties!” Elena’s passion in life was caring for animals. She volunteered twice a week at the local animal shelter. “Everyone else was all, oh we’re going to have to decide which people qualify to live in our limited underground lairs, but Kaleb was the only one looking out for the sweet, helpless animals.”

She tucked her book under her arm and grabbed a bottle of water and two chocolate biscuits without even bothering with a plate or a napkin and plopped into a seat opposite Gwen and Lance. She raised her elbow to allow her book to fall onto her lap and stuck the water bottle between her knees to unscrew its cap. “I can’t even believe they’re leaving his character out of the movie. I am so bummed.” She took a large bite of biscuit and slumped down with a sigh, as if to demonstrate exactly how bummed she was.

Merlin collected a water bottle for himself and took his place in the circle. “Does anyone know if Vivian is coming today?”

Crumbs flew from Elena’s lips as she said, “She can’t make it. She’s rehearsing for the school play this weekend.”

Merlin nodded and pulled his folder of notes from beneath his seat. His heart sank as he realised that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to grow the young adult program. But he smiled around the circle, thankful at least for the dedication of these three.

“So, let’s dig into this crazy story filled with teenagers saving the world and dark symbols that may or may not be references to recent elections in a certain insane country we’re all glad we don’t live in.” All three book clubbers laughed. “And an actual gay romance!”

“Whoo whoo!” Elena cheered.

The next hour was spent laughing and swooning and ranting about the ups and downs of the plot and character development as well as delving into the not-so-hidden political agenda of the author and how teenagers in different parts of the world might interpret those messages.

Merlin prompted a few discussion topics, but mostly he sat quietly, listening to the passionate opinions of Gwen, Lance and Elena. His YA program might be small, but working with these young people always filled Merlin with hope for the future. These kids really cared about learning and about making the world a better place.

“So Merlin, do you think we should do another game night?” Gwen asked once their hour was up and they were gathering to leave. “Just to let more kids know where the library is, if nothing else!”

“Yeah, we can probably do that.” Merlin cringed inwardly, remembering how much trouble it had been borrowing game systems and getting everything set up. He didn’t mind doing it, but he hadn’t thought he would have to do it again so soon. Also, other than the fact that the game night took place in the library basement, it really didn’t do much to entice kids to read more or to visit the library more often. 

He said goodbye to his loyal teen patrons and started gathering up all the snacks. He could save some of them for the next book club meeting, but he would have to take the perishable items up to the staff’s break room to share. He climbed the back stairs so he wouldn’t walk past Arthur’s office. He just knew when Arthur saw all the leftovers, he would mock Merlin relentlessly for assuming the footie team would come for book club.

Unfortunately, Arthur wasn’t in his office. He was in the break room.

“How was book club?”

“You were right, of course. Got my hopes up for a big crowd for nothing.” Merlin crammed the leftover hummus and veggies into the refrigerator and turned to stalk out, avoiding looking at Arthur.

“Hey.” Arthur caught his arm before he reached the door. “I wasn’t teasing you. I was genuinely asking how it went.”

Merlin’s shoulders slumped. “It was fine.”

“Just fine?”

After years of being friends, Arthur could read Merlin well enough to tell he was holding back. “No, it was good. The kids really enjoyed the book, and we had some great discussions about the politics and the romances. Lance made an interesting comparison between one subplot and the story of Hades and Persephone, and Elena decided the entire point of the novel was to get more people to foster rescue dogs.”

Arthur chuckled. “That’s great. Look, Merlin, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings earlier. I’m actually rather fond of your foolish optimism, and I don’t want you to stop believing you can fill all those seats. All the evidence might show that you’re tilting at windmills, but who am I to keep you from your noble, righteous warfare?”

Merlin scoffed and then blew out a frustrated breath. “It seems the only way to get most kids through the doors is to bribe them with access to video games they don’t already have at home.”

“I’m sure that’s not the only way.” Arthur clapped him on the back. “You’ll think of something.” He brushed past Merlin on his way out the door. “In fact, if I know you, Merlin, you probably won’t sleep until you come up with another brilliant idea to trick teens into reading.”

Merlin rolled his eyes. Arthur might know him a little too well.

******

Just one more website. Merlin blinked at the clock on his computer screen. He thought it said 3:48 am, but the numbers were starting to look rather fuzzy around the edges. He had been visiting library websites from around the world, looking for ideas for YA programs that would actually attract kids to the library for more than just gaming.

Most of the suggestions he found had little to do with reading. Some libraries had watch parties for television shows. Minecraft clubs seemed popular amongst the pre-teen crowd, and Merlin found several libraries with RPG clubs for older teens. Mostly, however, Merlin was discovering that he was not the only YA librarian who had trouble getting teens involved.

Finally, he decided that if he didn’t want to be a zombie at work tomorrow, he had to get some sleep, so he closed his laptop and tossed it to the other side of the bed. Unfortunately, although he felt exhausted, Merlin could not turn his mind off, still trying to come up with the perfect program. Teens obviously enjoyed gaming, so if he could incorporate that, he might find some success. And they enjoyed the opportunity to interact with one another. Most people thought of reading as a solitary activity, but Merlin hoped to show them that discussing a book was a great way to get to know someone — or even to flirt with someone.

Merlin’s mind flitted back to his college days, when he and Arthur had certainly done their share of flirting as they argued about the books they read. Merlin had always preferred YA novels and juvenile literature, whereas Arthur was in love with mysteries and military thrillers. They spent hours arguing the merits of each style—Merlin trying to convince Arthur that just because a book was written for young people, didn’t mean it lacked depth and emotion, and Arthur trying to convince Merlin that reading more adult themes helped people to deal with things happening in their own lives and in the world around them.

But they had bonded over their love of ancient myths. Those stories that, told and retold over thousands of years across all cultures and ages, had shaped every form of art. It didn’t seem to matter who the target audience was, Merlin and Arthur could read any version of the tales of gods and goddesses, mythical creatures, warriors and lovers, and magic. They would talk well into the night about those stories, comparing different versions, applying the lessons in the stories to current events, and sometimes even creating their own stories based on the classic legends.

At the time, Merlin had thought he and Arthur were building not only a terrific friendship, but perhaps even a strong foundation for a romantic relationship. He was attracted to Arthur from the moment they met, but once he got to know him, Merlin found himself falling for every aspect of the man, from his brilliant mind to his fiercely loyal heart and his sense of humour that blended so well with Merlin’s own. He had hoped their relationship would progress from friendship to more, like so many fictional relationships he adored, but making that transition in real life proved more difficult than his beloved books would have had him believe. He suspected Arthur felt the same, but neither was willing to risk losing the friendship. So neither of them made a move to change things.

And then once they finished college, they each got jobs at different libraries. Arthur started working for the Camelot Public Library as cataloguer, and Merlin got a job in reference at the university library. They weren’t able to spend as much time together, then, and they drifted apart a bit. Merlin started dating Gilly, which was fine, but the relationship never had much heat and even their break-up was anti-climactic. Arthur had a series of boyfriends who never seemed to stick around longer than a month or two. They both excelled at their jobs; Merlin was promoted to head of the reference department, and Arthur became the youngest library director in CPL history.

About nine months ago, Arthur had texted Merlin that his Youth Services Librarian was quitting to return to teaching, and he asked if Merlin would be interested in interviewing for the job. Of course, Merlin had jumped at the chance. A job at a gorgeous, historic public library, in his chosen field, working with his former best friend he still had a crush on? Yes, please!

Since he had started at CPL, Merlin had been disappointed that he and Arthur still could not make that leap from friends to more. Arthur seemed quite pleased with friendship being the extent of their relationship, but Merlin was not satisfied. He was certain he wouldn’t be happy dating anyone else as long as he kept seeing Arthur every day.

Merlin tried to corral his thoughts back to the matter at hand—convincing teenagers that reading could benefit their social lives as well as their education. He tossed and turned a while longer, and finally gave in to sleep at such a late hour that when his alarm rang in the morning, he hit snooze three times before he could manage to drag himself out of bed.

It was in the shower, though, that inspiration finally struck. He was thinking about a way to combine an appreciation for books and use of library resources with games and socialization, when he thought about a treasure hunt. As he finished washing and got dressed, Merlin pondered ways to implement such a game. Other libraries had held scavenger hunts where students completed a list, taking photos on their phones of certain books, resources and staff members, but he wanted something more complex that would involve a lot more teamwork.

He drove to work feeling excited about his idea, his mind ticking through the possibilities, and by the time Merlin arrived at the library, he had started developing a plan, so he went straight to Arthur’s office. He knocked on the doorjamb and put on a deep, mysterious voice.

“There’s treasure hidden in the depths of library.”

Without any hesitation, Arthur said, ”The treasure here is not so hidden, actually. It’s on all the shelves.” His eyes twinkled at his wit.

Merlin flopped into the seat across from Arthur, rolling his eyes. “Ha, ha. Yes, you’re very clever. No wonder they made you director.”

Arthur gave his patented ‘I know I’m brilliant’ look and then asked, “What sort of treasure is hidden in our library?”

“I don’t know yet. I’m thinking film passes? Or a gift card? I’ll figure it out.”

“So am I right in assuming you’ve come up with an idea that will bring those kids back for more than just video games?”

“I hope so.” Merlin leaned forward in his chair. “You know how kids are so busy over the summer, even though they’re on break from school? Some of them have jobs. Some go to camps. A lot of them have sport practice or summer school. Well, I thought I could set up a treasure hunt in the library that they could work on all summer, whenever they had some free time.”

Excited, Merlin launched into explaining his idea, telling Arthur he thought the kids would enjoy working with a partner, and they would follow clues that would require some knowledge of literature. And if they didn’t already know the answer, they would have to use the library's resources to find it.

While Merlin was talking, Arthur’s phone buzzed on his desktop. He picked it up, frowned at the screen for a moment and then slapped it back down, giving Merlin a strained smile and nodding along as Merlin finished telling him about allowing the kids to go behind the scenes to the staff workroom.

“They’d have to be supervised for that part, of course,” Merlin added, but he realised he had lost Arthur’s attention after that text came in, so he scooted forward in his chair. “Hey, is everything okay?” He nodded toward Arthur’s mobile.

But Arthur shrugged noncommittally. “It’s nothing. Just some more family drama.”

Merlin didn’t want to pry, but he wanted to give Arthur the opportunity to share if he wanted to, so he remained quiet, watching Arthur with what he hoped was an encouraging half-smile.

“Morgana refuses to come to Dad’s birthday dinner.”

Arthur always hosted a huge dinner at Uther’s favourite restaurant on his birthday. He invited all of his father’s business associates as well as family and a few friends. Merlin had attended one of those dinners shortly after they graduated, mostly because he had missed spending time with Arthur and hoped to have a chance to catch up with him. However, the dinner had been a stiff affair. Most of the guests seemed not to know how to converse with Uther about anything other than business, and Arthur was left trying to keep up so his father wouldn’t be embarrassed by him.

Nevertheless, Merlin knew how much the tradition meant to both Arthur and his father. Although their relationship might seem cold and formal compared to Merlin and his mum’s, he knew that Arthur loved his father. And although they fought frequently, Merlin also knew that Uther adored Morgana, and her refusing to celebrate his birthday would hurt him deeply, which in turn would hurt Arthur.

There was nothing Merlin could do or say to help in this situation, so he simply said, “I’m sorry.”

Arthur gave a gruff nod at Merlin’s sympathy, and as he was a pro at shoving feelings aside rather than facing them, he slapped both hands on his desk, stood abruptly and said, “I need to supervise the circulation desk this morning. Freya called in sick and George is on his own down there.”

Merlin started to point out that George often worked alone when Freya stepped in to cover reference and that Arthur hadn’t worked the circulation desk since they switched to a new computer system, but he decided now was not the moment. Although he did feel sorry for George, who would probably be on edge after having a grumpy Arthur hovering over his shoulder all morning.

On the way to his office, Merlin passed Leon, the assistant director, who greeted him with an amused smirk. “Did I just see Arthur stalk past with a huge scowl on his face? What did you do to upset him this early in the day?”

“No, it wasn’t me this time,” Merlin said. “He’s got some personal stuff going on.”

“I think the problem is that he  _ hasn’t _ any personal stuff going on.” Leon waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “You need to do something about that, mate. I don’t know what you’re waiting for. He’s Arthur. He won’t send you an engraved invitation to his bed, you know.”

Merlin gave an embarrassed scoff and continued to his office. He didn’t have as much time during the day to plan as he would have liked. He had to set up for Preschool Craft Time before lunch, and after lunch, he read reviews of new picture books sent by a publisher, trying to decide which ones, if any, the library should order.

Later that afternoon, Merlin set out some tea in the small conference room for the Teen Advisory Group meeting. Currently only four teens were members, but at any given meeting several of them might not be available, and this time only Gwen and Elena showed up.

“Lance said he’s sorry, but he has practice this afternoon. They’re usually finished by now, but they have a game tomorrow, and the coach wanted to make up for missing yesterday when it was raining,” Gwen explained as she poured tea for herself and Elena.

“Tell him we didn’t want any boys in our meeting anyway!” Elena snatched two biscuits from the tray, shoved one into her mouth, and dipped the other into her tea.

Merlin allowed the girls a few minutes to chat about school before jumping into the topic of the meeting. “So I’ve been thinking a lot about how small our program is and how we can get more students involved, and I think I might have an idea.”

Both girls leaned forward, interested, so Merlin explained his plan for creating a treasure hunt within the library. “I was thinking you could work with a partner. We’d have a big party to kick it off, but after that, each team could work at their own pace. I know a lot of you have busy summers, so this would just be a fun side activity that could stretch through the whole summer.

“I haven’t worked out all the details, but I want to encourage summer reading with some clues being things that require knowledge of a certain book. Like maybe, a clue would say to look for books on the subject taught by a stripper posing as a professor in  _ Looking for Alaska, _ and to pay special attention to the professor’s name. And then on a shelf in the psychology section, I’d put a series of dots and dashes.” Merlin winked at the girls. “Now I’ve just given you an advantage for your dedication in being at this meeting.”

Gwen and Elena chuckled slightly, and Merlin continued. “Some clues will require research to solve and some might involve solving a puzzle or a riddle and some might take you to parts of the library that aren’t open to the general public. It’s an old building, you know, so there’s some really interesting things hidden away around here. I’ll try to make it challenging enough to last several weeks, but not so hard it gets frustrating.”

Merlin felt like he had been talking quite fast, so he took a deep breath and looked at Gwen and Elena. They both sat, staring at him with expressions he couldn’t quite read. Did they hate the idea? Did they think it sounded too much like schoolwork?

He bit the edge of his lip. “Well? What do you think? Is it worth the effort at all?”

Gwen and Elena were silent for a moment, and Merlin thought his stomach might sink all the way down to his knees, but then Elena’s mouth dropped open. “Worth the effort? Yes! Holy crap Merlin, that sounds amazing!”

“Definitely worth the effort.” Gwen smiled at Merlin. “I think Lance’s friends would really get into that. They’re all so competitive. Plus, maybe people can pair up with someone they like. You know, a romantic quest into the depths of the library.”

The three sat chattering about the treasure hunt for the rest of the hour. By the end, they had come up with a poster idea to publicise the program that they were now referring to as The Quest. Merlin was so pleased after the meeting, he went straight to his office and started making notes for clues.

******

“What do you think?”

Merlin plopped the poster Gwen and Elena had helped design onto Arthur’s desk at the end of the day. It was an image of a leather bound book sitting atop an old map with frayed edges. Across the book was a magnifying glass, and the poster simply stated, “Join The Quest… if you dare!” It was meant to serve as a teaser to get the kids’ attention, and Merlin would post ads with more details as the summer drew closer.

“Your TAG kids come up with this?” Arthur slid the ad closer to examine it. “Not bad.”

“They were so excited, Arthur! I think this quest will be so much fun.” Merlin rambled excitedly to Arthur for several long minutes about all of his ideas for The Quest and how he thought the teens would react to the different clues. “I really hope we can get a lot of kids involved. It won’t be as much fun if it’s just Gwen, Elena and Lance.”

Merlin chuckled, hoping Arthur would reassure him that his program would be a success, but Arthur was staring past him as if he didn’t realise Merlin had stopped talking.

“Arthur? Is everything okay?” Merlin asked. “Did you talk to Morgana?”

“Had lunch with her,” Arthur mumbled, propping his elbows on the desk and leaning his head into his hands.

“She hasn’t changed her mind, then?”

“Nope.” Arthur sounded angry. “She’s being so stubborn.”

Merlin hated to see Arthur so upset, so he tried to lighten the mood. “That is odd, because stubbornness is certainly not a trait that runs in your family.”

Arthur gave him a ‘very funny’ look. “Well, I didn’t know she could be so spiteful, anyway.” But then he waved his hand, clearly wanting to change the subject. “This quest of yours sounds like it’ll add some excitement to the kids’ summer.”

He stood and walked around his desk to stand next to Merlin. Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out what looked like tickets for something.

“Here.” He handed them to Merlin. “Next year’s schedule for the Camelot Theatre was released last week and it looks like a nice line-up of shows.”

Merlin looked at the tickets in his hand. It was two season passes for the renowned Camelot Theatre. He looked up at Arthur, confused.

Arthur continued. “There’s a new play being premiered as well as some modern classics and a musical or two. A night out at the theatre makes a great date.”

Merlin’s heart skipped a beat. What was Arthur suggesting?

“I thought those tickets would work well for the treasure at the end of your quest.”

Oh. Merlin let out the breath he didn’t realise he was holding.

“Play up that date angle if the kids are sceptical about theatre tickets. They’ll love that.”

Merlin tried to push down his disappointment. It was incredibly thoughtful of Arthur to purchase these tickets for his YA summer program. And Arthur had never given any outright indication that he had any interest in dating Merlin, so Merlin had no right to feel disappointed.

“Thanks, Arthur.” He forced himself to smile. “These will be a nice reward for the team that wins.”

As Merlin walked out to his car, he wished he could get over his silly crush on Arthur. He wished he could enjoy the thoughtfulness of his friend without constantly feeling crushed that their relationship would never be more than friendship.

******

Merlin spent the next several weeks planning The Quest. He didn’t have much time during his usual working hours, as he also had to prepare for the children’s summer reading programs as well as keeping up with his usual duties. So although he normally left the office around 6:00 unless there was a scheduled event in the evening, he found himself staying at the library past closing time at 9:00 every night.

His flatmate, Will, was starting to complain. “Oy! If you’re going to move into the library, you might let me know. I could try to rent out your room since you’re not using it anyway.”

But by the time summer started, Merlin was ready. The Quest was by far the most elaborate program he had ever planned. It required more research than his senior thesis and would send its teen participants into every section of the library, from the children’s department to the historic collection of religious texts to the staff workroom where the tables were always piled high with books waiting to be repaired.

Merlin was finishing a few last minute preparations for the kick-off party when Arthur knocked on his office door.

“So today’s the big day!”

Merlin was pleased that Arthur had agreed to join the party. His last few weeks had been rough. Uther and Morgana had not spoken except through their lawyers since Morgana failed to show up for the birthday celebration, and both of them seemed to enjoy putting Arthur in the middle of their argument—each trying to get him on their side and turn him against the other.

But talking with Merlin about The Quest always seemed to perk Arthur up. As they walked together down to the basement meeting room, Arthur chattered on about which part of the search for clues the kids would enjoy most.

“When I was their age, I think I would have liked seeing behind the scenes at the library.”

“When I was their age, I  _ worked _ behind the scenes at a library,” Merlin laughed, remembering his first job, shelving books at the tiny Ealdor Public Library.

Arthur looked thoughtful. “Right. I forgot your first job was in a library.” He shrugged. “Not a bad first job, though. Better than some.”

And just like that, Arthur’s mood shifted from cheerful to pensive. His first job, of course, had been at his father’s company. It didn’t take much these days to push Arthur over into brooding mode, so this time, Merlin hoped it would be just as easy to bring him out of it.

“Can you imagine letting fifteen year olds shelve books in this labyrinth of a library?”

He laughed, hoping Arthur would join him; they often joked about why anyone thought it was a good idea to put a public library in an old church, especially one that had been built around an ancient castle. The building was certainly impressive on the outside, and the main reading room, located in the church’s sanctuary with gothic arches and stained glass windows, was breath-taking, but the confusing layout made it difficult for patrons to locate books.

Arthur didn’t join Merlin in his laughter, but he did brighten up some. “I guess we’re lucky to be located near a university with a library science program, so we can use interns to shelve our books.”

“Exactly!” Merlin slung an arm around Arthur’s shoulder, relieved that he seemed to be cheering up a bit. “They’re qualified and they work for free.”

“Well, not free exactly,” Arthur pointed out. “Freya has to keep the staff room fridge well-stocked for them. I swear some of those students must not eat except when they’re working in the library.”

Merlin resisted the urge to point out that not all college students got to go home to enjoy meals prepared by a full-time cook. When they arrived in the community meeting room, they found Merlin’s TAG students already setting up for the party. Elena and Vivian were hanging decorations while Gwen and Lance set up chairs. Arthur glanced over at the full snack table and then looked back at Merlin.

“Your doing, I suppose?”

Merlin grinned. “Lance’s teammates have promised to show up this time, and I’m guessing they’ll show up hungry.”

“Oh, so in addition to feeding our college interns, the library now has to feed the whole football team?” Arthur complained, but he was laughing all the same.

Gwen edged toward them, holding a paper crown in her fidgeting fingers. “Um, Merlin? Did you ask him yet?”

Arthur’s eyes narrowed, and he turned a suspicious glare on Merlin. “Ask me what?”

Sheepishly, Merlin said, “I thought it would be more fun to surprise him.”

“Surprise me with what?” Arthur ground out, eyeing the crown in Gwen’s hands.

“The Teen Advisory Group put together a little sketch to introduce The Quest. Sort of a medieval knights kind of thing.” Merlin held back a smile as Arthur started shaking his head. “Anyway, since you’re our illustrious leader here at the library, they wondered if you might be willing to play the role of the king.”

Merlin bit his lip as Arthur glared at him furiously, and then he put on his best innocent voice. “They worked really hard on their sketch, Arthur. It would mean a lot to them if you would take part. Wouldn’t it, Gwen?” He jerked his head toward Arthur, hinting to Gwen to lay it on thick asking Arthur to be king.

Arthur nearly growled at him but turned a tight smile to Gwen as she started her over-the-top begging routine.

“Oh yes, please, Arthur! We have to have a king in our skit and there’s no better person to fill this crown than the library director himself.”

Gwen finished her doe-eyed plea by poking out her bottom lip and batting her eyelashes pitifully, and both Merlin and Arthur burst into laughter.

“All right. How can I say no to this emotional appeal that I’m guessing the two of you rehearsed at the last TAG meeting?" Arthur snatched the crown from her hands, nearly ripping it in two. "Do I have any lines to say?”

Gwen pulled Arthur to join her and the others for a quick run-through of their skit, and Merlin set out the handouts he had prepared explaining the rules of The Quest. Before long, a girl with long brown hair appeared in the doorway.

“Oh, you’re still setting up. We’ll come back.”

Merlin walked over to greet her and another dark haired girl following her into the meeting room. “No, we’re ready! Come on in. I’m Merlin, the Youth Services Librarian. Do you know—“

“Mithian! Sophia! I’m glad you made it!” Vivian trotted over to them, grabbed the first girl’s hand and pulled them toward the others at the front of the room.

Arthur abandoned the group of now giggling girls plus Lance to stand with Merlin as more students started to arrive. Merlin could tell when Lance’s mates were approaching, because he could hear Gwaine’s laughter echoing through the hallway well before he entered the room.

“Lance promised that hottie who’s in all the school plays would be here. What’s her name? You know, the blond with the perfect—“

Gwaine rounded the corner into the room with his hands held before him, fingers curled toward his chest, leaving no doubt as to what he was referring to. As soon as he saw the group of girls standing at the front of the room, however, he cleared his throat.

“Stage presence.”

The group of young men around him laughed raucously. Gwen’s brother, Elyan, whom Merlin had met once when he came to pick her up from a book club meeting, shoved Gwaine and very sarcastically told him, “Nice save, mate.”

Elyan and his friend Percy followed Gwaine into the room, along with two other young men Merlin did not recognise. They all drifted immediately toward the snack table and started loading their plates high.

Merlin tossed Arthur a triumphant smirk at which Arthur rolled his eyes. The two of them stood to the side while the teens formed small groups to snack and visit. Several more young people arrived over the next ten or fifteen minutes, and the room got noisier and noisier with the sounds of conversation and laughter.

Seeing the room full of teens who had come for a library program warmed Merlin’s heart and he must have been grinning rather stupidly, because Arthur started laughing at him and shaking his head.

“Shut up. I’m just glad we’ve got such a good turnout.” Merlin shoved Arthur gently. “Should we settle them down and get started?”

Arthur put both hands up. “It’s your program, Merlin. I’m just here to help… and apparently to play the king.”

So Merlin walked to the front of the room and called for everyone’s attention. “It’s great to see everyone. Why don’t you have a seat? We have a special presentation to give you an idea of what we’ll be doing this summer.” He nodded toward the TAG kids who had seated themselves in the front row. “Ready?”

They stood, donning their simple costumes, and Arthur joined the teens in the front of the room, giving the crowd a “what have I got myself into?” look as he placed the paper crown atop his head with a flourish and took his seat on the chair over which Gwen had draped an old yellow curtain to make it look like a throne.

The group started clapping and hooting to encourage those 'onstage,' and Gwen held up her hand for silence and then read from a scroll.

“Our story begins many years ago in the very castle under which you are sitting. The king had spent all his money and was in danger of losing his kingdom, so he was terribly sad all the time.”

Arthur drew his lips down into a pathetic frown. “Woe is me. I’m the poorest king around.”

A few of the kids in the crowd chuckled, and Gwen continued. “But then one day, the king’s mage came to tell him he had discovered an ancient scroll hidden in the castle’s crypt.”

Lance entered the scene, wearing a tall pointed hat and a long cape. “Sire, I have discovered the answer to all your problems.”

“You found gold?” Arthur rubbed his hands together with glee.

“No, sire.” Lance pulled a tiny scroll from his pocket. “Something even better than riches lies hidden somewhere in the kingdom. I have here a clue that will lead us to the treasure.”

Arthur stood suddenly. “What do you mean, lead  _ us _ to the treasure? If there is treasure to be found in my kingdom, it should rightfully belong only to  _ me _ , the king!” He turned toward Vivian and Elena who were wearing paper helmets and carrying cardboard swords. “Faithful knights, seize him!”

The audience cheered as the two girls grabbed Lance and wrestled him to the ground.

“Oh! Taken down by two little girls!” One young man Merlin thought was named Cenred jeered from the last row. “Not so hot now, are you Lance?”

Ignoring the reaction of his peers, Lance continued the scene. “You will regret this, selfish king. How will you find the treasure without the aid of this clue?”

And he held the tiny scroll up with his arm straight above his head, shouted a few magic words and then dropped the scroll, letting it slide into his open sleeve. The other teens sniggered at this pitiful attempt at a special effect, and Vivian raised her eyebrows at Merlin in a gloating, “I told you so.”

The kids had begged to use a small pyrotechnic effect. “We use them all the time in the theatre!” Vivian tried to cajole him, but Merlin had put his foot down.

“Absolutely no fire in the library. Think about the books!”

After the scroll slid down Lance’s sleeve, Arthur bellowed in frustration and ordered him killed. Vivian and Elena took special pleasure in hacking at him with their flimsy swords while the crowd cheered in encouragement.

“The king sent his knights into the kingdom in search of the treasure.” As Gwen continued the narration, Vivian and Elena stalked around the room, peering under tables and behind chairs. “But without the missing clue, they were unsuccessful in their quest.”

Elena gave an overdramatic shrug, and Vivian stamped her foot in frustration.

“So eventually the greedy king had to give up, and he lived the remainder of his days as a pauper, hiding in his castle until he eventually ran out of food and died.”

Arthur clutched his stomach and then slumped into his throne, his head dropping onto his shoulder and tongue lolling out. Again, the kids cheered, so Arthur gave a few twitches, playing up for the crowd, and Merlin couldn’t help laughing at his antics.

Gwen raised her scroll once more. “Years passed and it seemed the treasure would remain hidden for all time. However, our very own Merlin has discovered the long lost first clue to lead us on a quest to locate this treasure. And unlike the selfish king in our story, Merlin has decided to share this treasure with two lucky young people. We shall form teams of two, and Merlin will give us the first clue. Then all summer long, we can work on finding more clues that will lead us to the king’s precious treasure. Who will join me in The Quest?” She finished with a flourish of her hand, and the audience cheered and applauded.

After the TAG members and Arthur took their bows, Merlin explained to the gathered students the rules of The Quest. Since most of the kids were not regular patrons, he felt like he needed to be specific about behaviours that were and were not permitted within the library.

Before he handed out the first clue, the kids had to decide on a partner to work with for the summer. As it turned out, pairing up was a very serious business for teenagers, so the process took a bit longer than Merlin thought it would.

He and Arthur watched as the kids talked amongst themselves, and soon Merlin was nudging Arthur, subtly directing his attention to items of interest.

Gwen was chatting with Elena, but she kept peering hopefully toward Lance who was standing on his own a few metres away, casting his gaze around the room as if he was searching for someone to partner with. Except he looked at Gwen a bit more frequently than at anyone else. Finally, their nervous glances coincided, and Gwen gave him an encouraging smile, so he shuffled over and Elena moved aside with a knowing look.

Gwaine ambled from one small group of girls to another. More than one girl responded to his dramatic overtures with annoyed eye-rolls and quickly turned backs, although he also received a few flirtatious giggles along the way. But he seemed reluctant to commit to a single partner.

Mithian and Vivian had clearly decided they would be better off with a good friend rather than a possible summer romance, but Cenred didn’t seem to have gotten the message, as he hovered nearby, continually trying to wedge his way into their conversation.

“It’s almost painful to watch.” Arthur leaned close to Merlin so he wouldn’t be overheard. “I do not miss those awkward and uncertain teen flirtations.”

Merlin snorted. “Right. Because adult flirtations are never awkward or uncertain.”

“Well, there’s uncertainty I guess, but it’s more exciting now, isn’t it?”

“For you, maybe. I haven’t had any excitement for I don’t know how long.”

Arthur turned a disbelieving look on him. “Liar. I saw that hot guy on your phone yesterday.”

“What?” Merlin had no idea what Arthur was talking about. “There was no hot guy on my phone.”

“Yes, there was.” Arthur was starting to sound annoyed, which Merlin could not understand. “You got a text, and it was a selfie of some guy and you were grinning at it all besotted.”

And then Merlin remembered the picture and he laughed. “No, my mum sent me that.”

“Your mum sends you selfies of hot guys?”

“It’s so dumb.” Merlin rolled his eyes fondly. “Whenever she meets someone she thinks I’d like, she shows him my picture and asks him if she can send me his contact information and apparently the one she met yesterday thought I’d be more impressed if he included a photo.” He chuckled, shaking his head and closing his eyes. “Not once have I contacted any of the men she’s sent my way, but she keeps trying.”

“Ah.”

Merlin couldn’t tell if Arthur was amused or frightened to find out Merlin’s mother tried to set him up with every gay man she met.

“She just wants me to find someone.”

Arthur looked thoughtful for a moment. “No, that’s actually sort of nice.” His face sobered. “That’s a good thing. She wants you to be happy.”

Merlin wondered if Arthur was thinking about his own family. His mother had died in childbirth, and Uther and Morgana never showed much interest in his personal life. He wanted to say something reassuring, although he couldn’t think what, but he was spared when Elyan approached Arthur.

“What Gwen said in that little skit about the library building once being the castle of a king—was that true? I always thought it was an old church.”

Arthur stood up straight and took a deep breath. Poor Elyan didn’t know what he was getting himself into. The history of the library building was one of Arthur’s favourite subjects.

“Actually both are correct, although it wasn’t a king who lived here. The castle was the ancestral home of the Covingmoor family. The last surviving Covingmoor lord never married and was apparently a very devout man, so he willed the castle to the church. From the late 14th century until 1722, the building served as the parish church and underwent a series of expansions, as the original castle was much smaller than the building around us today.”

Merlin gave an inward groan. Arthur was in full teaching mode now.

“The church actually housed one of England’s first public libraries. The clergy members wanted to share their extensive religious library with the town, although their trust of the local shopkeepers only went so far, as the books were chained to the shelves to prevent theft.”

“Huh.” Elyan seemed surprisingly interested. “Do you still have any of those books here?”

Arthur’s eyes twinkled. “We do. In fact the original chained library was restored fifty years ago. It’s not open to the public, but we allow researchers from around the world to access it as needed.”

“Wow!” Elyan said, impressed, and Arthur glanced over at Merlin, probably knowing he had just given Elyan and his partner Percy an advantage in The Quest, as the chained library held one of the clues.

Arthur’s voice took on an air of mystery as he continued his history lesson. “Although this church thrived for hundreds of years, there were those who would never step foot over its threshold.” Elyan’s eyebrows shot up. “For most parishioners, the church was a place of comfort—a sacred space for worship. However, a few eccentrics always insisted the building was haunted by spirits who should be unwelcome in a Christian church.”

This mystery was one of Arthur’s favourite bits about the old building. He had done more research into the topic than anyone ever had, attempting to pinpoint why certain people felt the odd presence, while most did not.

“Eventually, the controversy around the church grew, so the local community raised enough money to build a new church across town. After that, the castle sat unused for almost a century before an ambitious professor from the university decided it would make an excellent location for a public library. And so here we are!”

Elyan started to ask more about the mysterious spirits when Gwaine’s voice rose above the other voices. “You’ll never manage if you keep wimping out. Don’t be such a girl!”

And then from across the room, Elena called out, “Oh, hell no!”

All eyes flew to her as she zeroed in on Gwaine. “I know I didn’t just hear you use  _ girl _ as an insult synonymous with  _ wimp _ !” She stalked right up to Gwaine, getting in his face with her most stern voice. “Do you have any idea how offensive that is? How harmful to the culture that attitude is?” 

Merlin’s heart swelled at her passion as she continued her tirade, full of well-thought-out arguments and statistics from research. He knew she had read many articles on the subject and felt strongly about this particular form of sexism.

After Elena finished, she stood firm, glaring at Gwaine. He looked at her for a long moment and then said, “You’re right. I apologise.”

She nodded as if to say, “You’re damn right, you apologise,” and Gwaine quirked his head to the side.

“Will you be my partner for this quest?”

Slightly taken aback, Elena narrowed her eyes at Gwaine, but after a moment, she seemed to decide he was being sincere, so she shrugged. “Why not?”

Merlin exchanged an amused glance with Arthur, thinking those two might require extra supervision this summer to keep them from ripping each other’s heads off. Then Merlin moved around the room, helping to speed along the remaining pairings before he handed out the first clue.

“Or (almost) like a Spider, who, confin'd   
 In her Web's centre, shakt with every winde,   
   Moves in an instant, if the buzzing Flie   
     Stir but a string of her Lawn Canopie.”

“That’s got to be Shakespeare,” Gwaine declared after Merlin read the clue aloud. “Where are the Shakespeare books kept?”

Elena laughed. “It’s not Shakespeare.”

And then she leaned closer to whisper into Gwaine’s ear. He nodded along, impressed, and then whispered something back to her. Merlin glanced around the room, pleased to see other pairs huddled together, some typing furiously on their phones, trying to untangle this first clue. Gwen’s eyes lit up immediately, and she tugged on Lance’s hand, pulling him out of the meeting room, eager to be the first pair to reach the location of the second clue. 

Some of the students, however, didn’t seem as interested in solving the clue. Cenred had paired up with one of Vivian’s friends from the theatre department named Mary, and his friend, Valiant, was paired with another young woman Merlin did not know. Instead of poring over the clue like the other pairs, these four were goofing off in the back of the room. Valiant had taken Mary’s purse and was tossing it back and forth with Cenred while Mary and her friend laughed and half-heartedly tried to get it back.

Arthur was aiming a stern glare in the direction of the rambunctious teens, so Merlin headed over to stop their horseplay. “Hey guys, if you don’t want to participate in The Quest, that’s fine, but I’ll have to ask you to—“

As Merlin spoke, Valiant threw the purse over Mary’s head and when Cenred attempted to catch it, he fell into a stack of chairs against the rear wall. Valiant cackled as Cenred sprawled across the chairs which toppled backward, knocking a hole in the drywall.

“That’s it. Out.” Arthur’s firm voice rang out across the room. “You lot are old enough to know not to roughhouse in the library. Show some respect.”

Mary and her friend hung their heads, and Cenred clambered down from the stack of chairs, handed Mary her purse and mumbled an apology to Merlin and Arthur. He and the girls slunk away, avoiding making eye contact with anyone.

Valiant, however, showed no remorse. “I didn’t want to come to this thing anyway.” He stalked out the door and from the hall, they could hear him call out, “Bunch of dorks if you ask me.”

Merlin moved to right the chairs Cenred had fallen into, swallowing hard against the lump of anger and disappointment in his throat. Arthur came over to help.

“I’m sorry, Arthur. I shouldn’t have pushed Lance to invite those guys.” He cast a rueful glance toward the door. “He tried to tell me this wasn’t really their thing.”

But Arthur put his hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “No, you did the right thing. Believe it or not, I was actually a lot like Cenred and Valiant when I was their age. A bit spoiled and too used to getting my way.” He rolled his eyes, peeved at his younger self. “If I hadn’t had a couple of teachers who put extra effort into helping me refocus my energy, I don’t know what might have happened. Maybe those two aren’t quite ready, but look at everyone else. They seem happy to spend their summer exploring the library.”

Surveying the room again, Merlin’s disappointment eased, and he gave Arthur a grateful smile. Arthur turned back to address the remaining students who had paused their analysis of the clue to watch the proceedings.

“Listen up, everyone,” Arthur said. “I’m sorry the party was marred by misbehaviour, but as long as you follow the rules Merlin set forth, this will be a great summer. I think you’ll all enjoy The Quest. Good luck!”

After the students had gone, full of excitement to begin their hunt for clues, Arthur turned to Merlin. “Okay, you’ve stumped me. What is that quote from?”

“It’s Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas.”

Arthur nodded in recognition. “Ah, the engraving on the third floor. But why a quote about a spider?”

“Um.” Merlin dipped his head, hesitant to admit to Arthur how much work he’d put into this summer program. “I may have hung a web made of yarn on the ceiling with the next clue sort of woven into it.”

Arthur stared at him. “Damn, Merlin. That’s some serious dedication.”

“Well, that’s one word for it, I guess.” But Merlin was pleased to see Arthur chuckling and shaking his head, apparently not surprised by Merlin’s obsessive tendencies.

It was a shame, though, that the quest he put together for the kids had resulted in damage to library property. Merlin went to examine the wall Cenred had fallen into. He ran his hand across the hole, but the moment his fingers touched the frayed edge of the drywall, an alarming jolt ran through him.

Merlin cried out and jerked his hand back.

“Did you cut yourself?” Arthur asked, leaning down to examine the new indentation in the wall.

“Careful!” Merlin warned, but Arthur was running his fingers over the crumbling drywall without any reaction. Merlin leaned close, and his skin started tingling. He felt like something was attempting to pull him into the hole, almost as if there was a strong magnet on the other side of the drywall and he was made of metal. “What is that?”

“Oh, it’s just a small crack, I guess.” Arthur sighed. “Shouldn’t be too hard to patch, although unless we repaint the whole wall, it’ll definitely be noticeable.”

“No, it’s…” Merlin couldn’t help feeling drawn to the hole in the wall. Despite the strange tingling sensation under his skin, he reached his fingers into the opening again. “Don’t you feel that?”

Merlin looked into the hole and realised the opening went deeper than he expected. He assumed the drywall was placed on a wood framework separating the inside wall of the basement from the stone wall that may at one time have been a dungeon. But Merlin didn’t see any stone, and he couldn’t tell how deep the hole went.

“What are you doing?” Arthur asked as Merlin fished his phone from his pocket and switched on the torch function.

He shone the light into the opening and peered into the hole. His heart leapt when he saw a tiny reptilian eye peering back at him. Merlin jerked away, pulse racing.

Arthur gave an amused chuckle. “Did you see a spider, Merlin?”

“No,” Merlin answered shakily. “I think it was a dragon.”

“Very funny.” Arthur turned away and started stacking the chairs from the program, but Merlin leaned down again.

“Arthur, there’s something back here.” He moved his head around, pointing the tiny light from his phone up and down, trying to get a better view. “It’s a painting!”

Merlin could now make out the head and body the eye he had seen belonged to. It was definitely a picture of a dragon in flight. Arthur joined him and held out his hand, requesting Merlin’s phone.

“Let me take a look.”

Merlin stepped back to give Arthur a chance to examine the painting beyond the wall, but as soon as he stepped away, he felt an inexplicable tug somewhere in the centre of his chest, pulling him back toward the painting. His skin broke out in a clammy sweat and his palms began to itch, begging him to tear away the drywall to expose it fully.

Without even thinking, Merlin pushed Arthur aside and started clawing at the rough edges of the opening.

“Merlin! What the hell?” Arthur seemed baffled by Merlin’s odd behavior.

Frankly, Merlin was a bit baffled himself. “I have to see what’s back here.” He dug his fingers into the edges of the drywall, prying pieces away to enlarge the opening.

“Merlin, stop!” Arthur physically hauled him away from the wall. “You’re going to hurt yourself. What are you doing?” He gripped Merlin’s shoulders tightly, turning him so they stood face to face. “What’s got into you?”

Merlin twitched in Arthur’s grip, trying to get back to the wall, but he couldn’t give Arthur a proper answer, because he didn’t understand what was happening himself. “It’s like it’s calling to me. It wants me to find it.” All he could focus on was uncovering that painting, and he felt frustrated that Arthur was keeping him from it. “Arthur, please let me go.”

But Arthur held him firmly, gazing into Merlin’s eyes and speaking in a low and even voice. “Merlin, listen to me. If there is a painting back there, that’s an historical artefact, and I agree, we do need to recover it. But there’s a right way to do it. There’s procedure for these things.”

But as Arthur spoke, Merlin simply shook his head, tears springing unbidden to his eyes and spilling down his face. “Now. Please,” He begged. He had no idea why this hidden painting should be causing such a visceral reaction in him.

“Merlin, you’re worrying me.” Arthur pressed his fingers to Merlin’s forehead and then his cheek as if measuring his temperature.

Merlin’s whole body shook with the effort of not turning back and tearing into the wall. He gave one last feeble “please” and closed his eyes, giving in to the sobs now wracking his body.

At last, Arthur released him, and Merlin flung himself at the wall, digging his fingers into the edges of the drywall and pulling away large chunks at a time. Soon he felt the warmth of Arthur standing next to him.

“Let me help.”

So Merlin took one side of the growing hole in the wall, and Arthur took the other, and before long they had pulled away a couple square metres of drywall. Once the studs were exposed, they could see that the wood on several of them had rotted through.

“I guess those aren’t load-bearing,” Arthur said as he helped Merlin pull the now pliable studs out of the way, so they could get to the stone wall behind them.

Merlin thought about the basement of his mother’s house and how the wall was made of concrete blocks. In this ancient castle turned church turned library, however, the wall was actually stones of different shapes and sizes, fitted together like puzzle pieces, but in this section, at least, there was no mortar between them. The stones were loosely held together by gravity alone, and it seemed the chair crashing into the wall had knocked one loose.

“Help me pull away these stones, Arthur.”

Now that they were actively dismantling the wall, Merlin’s agitation had lessened, but he still felt the mysterious tugging sensation, luring him toward the painting, so he and Arthur continued removing stones until the entire painting was exposed. They stepped back to examine the whole image.

“It’s the library,” Merlin said. “But different.”

Arthur agreed. “This must be what Covingmoor Castle looked like before it became the church.”

The basic shape of the building was the same, but a second tower was visible in the background, though the library only had one. And where now the library was surrounded by other buildings in the middle of town, Covingmoor Castle was alone in the countryside with only trees for company. A large dragon flew in the sky over the castle, and it was unclear whether the dragon was meant to be attacking the castle or protecting it. There were no people in the picture.

The magnetic pull Merlin had experienced was gone, but he still felt a slight tingling beneath the surface of his skin. He couldn’t pinpoint whether the tingling was from excitement at this new discovery or something else. Something that seemed to emanate from the picture itself.

“This is incredible, Merlin. I wonder how old it is. We’ll have to bring in an expert to determine its age.” 

Arthur stooped to examine the painting up close. “I would have thought after all these years behind the wall, the painting would be covered with dust and, I don’t know… mouse droppings or something. But it’s perfectly pristine.” Arthur ran one finger down the wooden frame around the painting. “Hang on. There’s words here.”

Merlin stepped closer, leaning over Arthur’s shoulder. “Where?”

“Carved into the frame.” Arthur indicated markings in the wood. “That’s Old English, isn’t it?”

“I think so.” Merlin jogged to the other side of the room for a pen and paper to copy the words on the frame. “I never studied Old English, did you?”

Arthur frowned. “Not really, but I recognise a few words.” He pointed. “I think this is secret.” His finger traced along the frame. “This is earth… or maybe ground or dirt.” And on the opposite side, he pointed out one more word. “That’s hide, I think. Or hidden.”

Merlin finished copying the words and then took a picture of his paper with his phone. “I’m sending this to Freya. She’s the only Old English expert I know. Maybe she can translate it for us.”

As they waited for a response, Merlin and Arthur cleaned up the mess they had made when uncovering the painting, but after they finished sweeping up all the bits of drywall and stacking the loose stones into boxes, Freya still hadn’t answered, so Arthur decided they should call it a night.

“Tomorrow, I can call one of the art historians from the university to come take a look at the painting.”

They both headed home, and Merlin started feeling anxious again, wondering what the words on the frame meant and why he had reacted so strongly when they discovered the painting. As he got ready for bed, Freya texted him back.

“Where did you find that? Most of my books are in my office, but this should be pretty close…

“The secrets of the earth’s power must be hidden. When the time is right, the chosen must locate the source. The search begins in the passage beneath the depths.

“You’ll have to tell me tomorrow what this is all about! <3”

Merlin thanked her and climbed into bed, his mind reeling with excitement from the evening. Every time he thought back to uncovering the painting, his heart slammed against his ribs, and his skin tingled as if something just beneath the surface was trying to get out. He kept alternating between feeling sweaty and chilled. He would kick the covers off only to tug them back up to his chin moments later. Finally, Merlin got out of bed and went to the kitchen to warm some milk. When he’d had trouble sleeping as a child, his mother always gave him warm milk.

Unable to focus his mind well enough to process the events of the evening, Merlin gave up and decided to turn on the telly to distract himself. Sometime after 3 am, he finally dozed off, still sitting in his armchair in the living room.

Merlin walked through a dark forest, leaves crunching beneath his feet, his nose filled with the rich scent of earth and rotting wood. The trees were thick, but a thin path snaked through the woods, and although almost no light permeated the canopy of leaves and branches, Merlin followed the trail instinctively, as if he had travelled this path many times before.

The trees thinned, and Merlin stepped into a clearing, smiling up at the moonlit castle before him. He felt as if something within its walls was summoning him— calling him home. A screech tore through the air, and Merlin’s eyes shot skyward. A massive dragon flew above, dipping its head and letting out another loud cry. Merlin should have felt terrified, but instead, he recognised the dragon’s call as a welcome, so he smiled and waved to the creature as he continued approaching the castle.

Heavy wooden doors swung open as Merlin drew near. Perhaps someone inside anticipated his arrival. When Merlin stepped through the doorway, he expected to find himself in the large stone entryway, however, the massive doors had actually led him into a dark, cramped passage, walls of packed earth forming an arch barely high enough to allow Merlin to stand upright.

Merlin blinked against the darkness, although a flickering light far into the passage seemed to draw him forward. He walked toward the light, occasionally reaching out to touch the dirt walls to keep his balance in the dark. He felt he walked at least the length of the castle, but he didn’t appear any closer to the dancing orange light than when he started.

And then he woke up. Still groggy and blinking hard to clear his bleary eyes, he tried to remember where he was. His neck hurt from falling asleep in his chair, but the significance of his dream started to sink in, and he knew he’d never get back to sleep. He bounded from his chair to get dressed. He had to get to the library.

When Merlin arrived, he was surprised to find Arthur’s car in the empty car park. Had he also had a dream about the painting? Merlin hurried down to the basement and into the meeting room. Arthur was sitting on the floor, staring up at the painting, unmoving.

“Arthur?” He didn’t turn. “What are you doing here? Did you have a dream, too?” Merlin looked from Arthur toward the image of the castle. It looked exactly as it had in his dream. Even the forest around it looked familiar. “There’s something spooky about this painting. I think it’s trying to communicate with me.”

But Arthur still stared blankly ahead, giving no response. “Arthur? Do you feel it, too?”

Finally Arthur spoke. “My father had a stroke last night.”

Merlin’s heart dropped, and he sank onto the floor next to Arthur, placing his hand gently on Arthur’s forearm. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“He was working late, and his VP came in to find him slumped in his chair, unconscious. They’re not sure how long he had been like that, since no one had been in his office or spoken to him for at least two hours.” Arthur sounded oddly detached as he explained. “They rushed him to the hospital, but after a stroke, every minute matters. He hasn’t regained consciousness all night, and the doctor said she’s not sure he ever will.”

Merlin could hardly believe what he was hearing. He sighed and scooted closer to Arthur so he could wrap an arm around his shoulder.

“I saw him in hospital tonight. He could have been sleeping.”

Arthur’s cool tone would have disconcerted Merlin, but he knew Arthur often dealt with traumatic situations by disconnecting. Smaller stressors made Arthur lose his temper and yell, but he had difficulty dealing with situations where he felt helpless, so he simply didn’t deal at all.

“I’m so sorry, Arthur. I know that has to be hard to see your father like that.” Although Arthur wasn’t showing any outward signs of emotional distress, Merlin wanted him to know that he was there for him, should he need anything.

He leaned his head onto Arthur’s shoulder, and they sat together, staring in silence at the picture before them for several minutes before Arthur took a deep breath, blew it out rapidly and turned to Merlin with a sceptical smirk. “So the painting is talking to you now?”

Merlin knew better than to continue focusing on Uther’s stroke for now. Arthur was ready to move into full ignoring-the-problem mode, so Merlin stood and reached for Arthur’s hand to pull him up.

“Yes, in a way.” He ran one hand down the right side of the painting’s frame, looking for a catch of some sort. “I had a dream that I was there at the castle, and I think I know what it meant.” He felt an irregularity on the back of the frame, so he squeezed and a soft click indicated the release of a locking mechanism.

“What the—?” Arthur’s eyes narrowed, but Merlin’s were wide with anticipation.

He swung the painting away from the wall, and as he suspected, it opened on hinges like a door to reveal a dark passage behind it. As Arthur leaned forward, peering into the passage and huffing out a shocked laugh, Merlin reached into his pocket and pulled out the torch he had brought from home.

He switched it on and raised his eyebrows at Arthur, nodding toward the passage, daring him to enter first. Arthur laughed right out loud. “Merlin! How the hell did you know this secret passage would be here?”

“I told you,” Merlin said as he pushed past Arthur and stepped into the passageway. “I dreamed it.”

Arthur stood for a moment, shaking his head in disbelief, but then with another chuckle, he followed Merlin into the narrow tunnel.

Just like in Merlin’s dream, the walls of the passage were made of packed earth, and the ceiling above them was low enough that Merlin felt like he had to duck, although when he tried to stand, his head did not bump the dirt above him.

“This is amazing,” Arthur said as they carefully made their way down the hidden passageway. “I wonder how long this tunnel has gone undisturbed. Do you think the clergy knew it was here back when this was a church? Or could we be the first to walk this path in more than seven centuries?”

Merlin kept facing forward so Arthur would not see his fond smile. He could hear the excitement in Arthur’s voice. Of course a mystery involving the history of Arthur’s favourite building would make him instantly forget his family troubles.

The passage was fairly straight, likely following the outer wall of the library, but the floor had a definite downward slope, so before long the square of light from the doorway into the meeting room disappeared and Merlin’s torch was all they had to guide them through the tunnel. Merlin remembered the flickering light coming from the depths of the passage in his dream, but no such light existed in reality. He almost wished it did, because in the darkness, the only sounds his and Arthur’s footfalls on the hard earth and their breath as they walked, Merlin was beginning to feel a bit spooked.

What if they were the first people in centuries to enter this tunnel? What might they find at its end? Merlin paused and looked back at Arthur who seemed to sense Merlin’s trepidation, because he pressed his lips together, holding back laughter.

“Would you feel more at ease if I took the lead?”

“No.” Merlin gave Arthur a sullen glare, but then he bit his lower lip and admitted, “I’d be worried about something sneaking up behind me.”

“Like what?” Arthur reached forward and danced his fingers up Merlin’s back. “A ghost?”

“Well, why not? You said yourself people used to feel evil spirits in this building all the time.”

Arthur dismissed Merlin’s concerns. “Psh, superstition. There’s no spirits here.” He stepped close to Merlin, giving him a gentle nudge to keep walking, but he kept his hand resting reassuringly on the small of Merlin’s back.

Merlin wasn’t quite ready to dismiss the idea of spirits, however. He still wasn’t sure how to explain the strong reaction he had when he first saw the painting peeking through the hole in the wall. Or how he had dreamed about the existence of this secret passage.

Suddenly the tunnel began to widen and the passage opened up into a small room. The walls were still made of dirt, but the room looked almost homey. The floor was covered with an ancient rug, and a small table stood in the middle of the room. Holes were carved into the dirt wall to create shelves which held a lantern and several books.

“Merlin,” Arthur spoke in a hushed voice. “Don’t touch anything until we take some pictures. This is quite a find.”

After Arthur thoroughly documented the room, he allowed Merlin to start poking around. Merlin pulled a book from the shelf. “It’s a Bible,” Merlin said, handing it to Arthur so he could examine the other books. “These are all religious texts, I think. Although,” he laughed, opening one thick, leather-bound book. “This one’s blank.”

“Odd.” Arthur looked over his shoulder as he flipped through the pages of the book. “An unused journal, perhaps?”

“Maybe.” Merlin gathered the rest of the books in his arms. “Let’s take these up to the library where we can look at them with proper lighting.”

Arthur stared at him with an oddly disconnected look for a moment before responding. “Actually, I feel like I should go back to the hospital to check on my dad.”

Merlin’s heart sank at the sadness in Arthur’s voice. “Of course.” Hesitantly, he reached out to squeeze Arthur’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be okay. He always seems so strong.”

Arthur gave a half-shrug that told Merlin he wasn’t quite as certain about his father’s fate, but he appreciated the sentiment. “Look, do me a favour. Use gloves when you’re looking through those books, okay? We shouldn’t have even touched anything down here.” He looked down with a disappointed scowl and mumbled, “Wasn’t thinking clearly.” He reached out to Merlin. “Hand me the torch.”

Merlin followed him up the tunnel, sad that Arthur’s enthusiasm over the discovery of this secret passage was so short-lived, although admittedly, Merlin was feeling a bit disappointed himself. The intensity of his reaction to the painting yesterday as well as his dream this morning had led him to believe he would find something more exciting than a few religious texts.

Once they were back in the meeting room, Arthur seemed even more distracted. He stood facing the door, torch still shining in his hand, while Merlin climbed out of the opening and swung the painting back into place, resealing the passage.

“I’ll look through these books and see if I can determine the purpose of that hidden chamber.”

Arthur didn’t seem to have heard him, so Merlin gently took the torch from his hand. “Hey.” Finally Arthur glanced up, the dullness of his usually expressive eyes betraying his fatigue. “Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?”

But Arthur shook his head. “I’ll be fine.” He started toward the door.

“Okay, but after you see your father, you should take the rest of the day off. Go home and get some sleep.”

Arthur waved off his concern, so Merlin called after him, “Well, at least grab some decent coffee on your way. The coffee at the hospital always tastes like it’s been sitting out since before these books were written.” He waggled one of the ancient tomes at Arthur.

After Arthur left, Merlin took the books to the staff workroom, donned a pair of gloves and began paging through each one in search of any information about why these particular books had been stashed in a hidden chamber at the end of a secret passage.

As he suspected, the books were all religious texts, published in the late 17th century, which told Merlin that the room he and Arthur found was likely used during the later days of the parish church. But why had the clergy needed such a room? And when was it sealed off? Were there other hidden rooms and secret passages in the castle?

Along with the Bible, there were several books of prayers, a book on exorcisms, and a book about something called the Old Religion. Merlin had never been a particularly religious person, and he hadn’t paid much attention when Arthur rambled about the library’s history as a church, so he was unfamiliar with the tenets of faith that had been practiced here.

Merlin pushed the books aside, thinking how strange it was for him to have been pulled so strongly to a room that held little more than religious items. Why had that particular passageway drawn him in so much he even dreamed about it? Merlin yawned, wishing he got more sleep the night before. He flipped through the journal and wondered why it had never been used.

Merlin’s eyelids began to droop as he stared at the blank pages. He sat up straighter and shook his head, trying to wake himself up. He hoped Arthur had taken his advice and picked up some coffee before he drove to the hospital, otherwise he would be struggling as much as Merlin was to stay awake. 

He also hoped Uther would be okay, for Arthur’s sake. Merlin yawned again and leaned back in his chair. Maybe he would just rest his eyes for a moment.

A long, dark passageway opened before him. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness. There appeared to be a small flame in the distance, providing the only light. Merlin realised he was stooped at an angle so he wouldn’t bump his head on the low ceiling, and he felt claustrophobic because the passage was barely wider than his shoulders. Unlike the first passage that was carved into the earth, the walls of this corridor were lined with stones. He felt the now familiar tugging sensation within his chest, drawing him toward the flickering light. He moved forward, allowing the tips of his fingers to bump along the stones by his side, but no matter how much he walked, he never seemed to get closer to the light.

He heard a knocking sound that seemed to come from the wall to his left.

“Merlin?” Someone was calling his name. “Merlin!”

Jerking awake, he looked toward the door of the workroom where Freya stood, smiling at him.

“Oh good, you are here! I saw your car, but the light in your office was off.” She turned to the side, ushering Gwen and Lance into the room. “Look who I found sitting on the steps of the library, waiting for it to open. They say they need to get into this workroom, and I’m guessing it has something to do with that quest of yours.”

“Sorry, Merlin.” Gwen gave a sheepish grin. “It’s just Lance has to be at work in half an hour, so we wanted to grab the next clue while we had the chance.”

“Dang, Gwen! The staff workroom is the fourth clue on the list. Are you trying to complete the whole quest in three days?” Merlin stood, stretching his arms above his head with a yawn. “You’ve got to give the other kids a chance!”

Lance smiled weakly at Merlin, indicating that he also felt Gwen was maybe putting too much effort into The Quest, but when Gwen glanced his way, he backtracked. “No, it’s just, um… exciting, isn’t it? Solving a mystery? It’s great fun!”

Gwen rolled her eyes as if she knew he was humouring her and then turned back to Merlin. “I’ve got to leave for camp next week. I’ll be a counsellor for the next month, and I’ll only be home a couple of weekends, so we have to take advantage of what time we have.”

“Well, you’re doing very well, I’d say.” Merlin laughed and stepped aside. “So do you know where in this room to look for your clue?”

“I think it has something to do with repairing books. It’s some sort of press?” Gwen peered around the room, looking for the piece of equipment Merlin’s clue indicated.

Freya laughed from the doorway. “Are you training all your teens to be future librarians?”

“Actually,” Lance said, giving Gwen a pointed look. “I suspect it’s more that he wants us to know how much work goes into caring for the books so some of us will be more careful with them.”

Gwen poked her bottom lip out in an adorable pout. “I offered to pay for that book.”

“You mean the one you dropped in the bathtub?” Merlin exchanged a knowing glance with Freya. “Well, our finishing press does work wonders, but that much water damage pretty much spells the end for a book. But hey, you are one of our most faithful patrons, so Arthur generously offered to replace the book out of petty cash, so no worries.”

Waving off Gwen’s look of horror, Merlin led her and Lance to the press, under which they found the next clue.

“What thou lovest well remains,  
the rest is  **dross**   
What thou lov’st well will not be reft from thee  
What thou lov’st well is thy true heritage  
Whose world, or mine or theirs  
or is it of none?  


O Serpent Vice, what hast thou done?”

As Gwen read the clue aloud, Lance pulled out his phone, leaned over her shoulder, and started typing. 

“It’s from  _ The Cantos _ by Ezra Pound.”

“Good lord, Merlin!” Freya wrinkled her nose in disgust. “I’m glad I’m not doing this quest. If I never have to read that endless poem again, it’ll be too soon.” She smiled sweetly at Gwen and Lance and then called in a sing-song voice, “Good luck!” as she pranced back toward the front desk, laughing wickedly.

Merlin snorted at her antics, but Lance’s shoulders slumped, his eyes squeezing shut for a moment in dread.

“I’m not sure all of this quote is from the Pound poem.” Gwen turned a suspicious eye toward Merlin. “Because that last line is in a different font. Are you trying to be sneaky here, Merlin?”

Merlin threw his hands up, feigning innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” But he was inwardly impressed. That girl was too clever for her own good.

Lance was already typing the line into his phone. “You’re right.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s from a young adult novel called  _ The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy. _ ”

Merlin chuckled. He had expected the kids to run off immediately to find  _ The Cantos, _ but of course, Gwen had seen through his ploy. Although he still hoped she would enjoy the book.  _ The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy _ was a recent addition to the library’s YA collection, and he knew for a fact that Gwen had not yet read it. In order to solve this clue, the participants would have to find those lines from  _ The Cantos  _ quoted in the novel, and Merlin hoped skimming through the pages would spark their interest in reading this clever and amusing story.

Gwen took a picture of the clue and then returned it to its place underneath the finishing press. She turned back and shook her head. “Merlin, Merlin, Merlin. I can see right through you. You think you’re so clever, tricking me into reading some new book you love.”

He laughed and started to tease her back but stopped himself when he noticed Lance looking nervously back and forth between him and Gwen. There was a fine line between teasing and flirting, and he certainly didn’t want to give the impression that he was crossing it.

Gwen must have noticed Lance’s discomfort, too, because she swiftly turned away from Merlin and pulled Lance toward the work table piled high with books, including the ones Merlin and Arthur had found that morning in the secret passage.

“Oh, look at these gorgeous old books!” She barely glanced toward Merlin. “Is the library restoring these to add to the collection?”

“No, actually Arthur and I found those tucked away in a sort of secret room we didn’t even know existed. We’re hoping they might give us some new insight to the history of this castle.”

Gwen and Lance leaned down to look at the books, and Lance asked, “Is that a Bible? So was this secret room used when the library used to be a church?”

“Probably,” Merlin said. “The dates match up.”

“Oh!” Gwen looked up, excited. “When I was doing research for a paper last semester, I found some information about priest holes. During Queen Elizabeth’s reign in the fifteen-hundreds, Catholic priests were in such danger that some families smuggled them from home to home, and the priests sometimes had to hide in these secret compartments between the walls or under the floorboards. Do you think that’s what you found? A priest hole?”

Merlin shook his head. “Well, I thought about that, but these books were published after that time, and besides, this was a Protestant church.”

“Didn’t you say that some people used to think the church was filled with evil spirits?” Gwen asked. “Maybe people would come after the clergy because of those spirits and they had to hide or something.”

Merlin quirked his head thoughtfully at Gwen’s suggestion. That was a connection he had not made. Perhaps she was onto something, especially since one of the books he found was on exorcisms.

“This one isn’t actually a religious book. At least not a Christian religion.” Lance had picked up one of Merlin’s gloves, using it to flip carefully though one of the books. “It says it’s about the Old Religion, but it doesn’t reference the Bible at all, and I’ve never heard anyone mention the ‘Old Religion’ at church.”

Lance and his family were faithful members of the local Catholic church, so he probably knew a bit more about Christian traditions than Merlin did. Merlin looked over Lance’s shoulder at the book as Lance turned the pages.

“I wonder if it might be related to the evil spirits people sensed here.” Merlin had a sudden chill, thinking about the odd pulling sensation he had felt yesterday when they discovered the painting behind the wall. Could evil spirits have led him to the hidden room?

Lance shrugged. “I don’t know. It looks like a nature religion of some sort, but some of this is in a language I don’t know.”

Merlin nodded, looking at the book. “That’s Old English.” And the hair on his arms stood on end. The words on the frame of the painting were in Old English as well.

“Huh.” Lance closed the book and gave Merlin a puzzled glance. “Intrigue.”

Gwen laughed. “Looks like you’ll be going on a quest of your own.” She reached for Lance’s hand, pulling him out of the workroom and calling back to Merlin. “Let us know what you find!”

After they left, Merlin stared down at the books on the table in front of him. He might need to revisit the secret passage and hidden room to see if there was something he and Arthur had missed, and he also wanted to examine the painting again. Could there be a connection between his reaction to the painting and his dreams and the ancient spirits of the castle? Some force was definitely leading him to discover these secrets and compelling him to unravel the mysteries of the castle’s past. But what sort of force was it— evil or benevolent?

His stomach did flips as he sat down and pulled on the gloves again. A quest, indeed!

******

Two weeks passed, and Merlin had made no progress on his quest. He was starting to get frustrated. He had talked to a professor of Old English at the university who told him the book about the Old Religion simply outlined some of the older druidic beliefs about drawing power from nature. And the religious experts Merlin interviewed gave no indication that local clergy had ever had to hide. Historical records showed that leaders of the local church in the early 1700s had put no stock into the villagers’ complaints about spirits. They gave in to pressure from the community to relocate the church largely because maintenance on the old castle was too challenging.

Merlin was nearly ready to give up, deciding that he must have imagined the strong pull he felt toward the painting. He had always enjoyed mysteries, and he had just started his teens on a quest to follow clues, so he was probably excited and overcome with the thrill of discovery. And although he initially thought his dreams were prophetic, leading him to find additional clues, he had never found the second passageway he dreamt about, and his dreams had returned to their usual rubbish about showing up unprepared for a presentation or making a fool of himself in front of Arthur.

Merlin gathered the research he had compiled so far about possible uses of the mystery room and left his office. He paused in front of Arthur’s door, but it was closed, and he didn’t want to bother him. Arthur was spending so much time lately tending to his father that he barely had time to work, and when he was at the library, he seemed to prefer to avoid non-work-related conversations, so Merlin headed downstairs alone.

After the library closed for the night, Merlin liked to work in the main reading room. The rich hues of the mahogany tables, the ancient oak bookshelves, and even the scuffed wood floor gave the room a feeling of warmth and cosiness, even though the ceiling arched high above. This room traditionally held some of the oldest books in the library’s collection, so the shelves were lined with thick, leather-bound volumes whose titles were so faded, they were almost unreadable. The scent of those books filled the room with a pleasant mustiness and made Merlin feel as if he had stepped back in time.

Sometimes he preferred to grab a book and curl himself into one of the upholstered lounge chairs Arthur kept threatening to get rid of, because they collected not only dust, but also a not-so-delightful potpourri of odours from years of patrons sitting in them. But tonight, Merlin selected one of the tables, so he could spread out his collection of books and notes for one last stab at cracking the mystery of the hidden room.

He was just starting to settle when he felt someone approaching behind him. He didn’t bother turning, because he knew Arthur was the only other person left in the building.

“Are you still trying to puzzle out the meaning of that secret passageway?”

“Yes.” Merlin sighed. “Not that I’m getting anywhere.”

Arthur pulled out the chair beside him and took a seat. He glanced at the piles of books and papers on the table, but he didn’t really seem to register what he was looking at.

“How’s your father doing?” Merlin already knew the answer, but it would be impolite not to ask anyway.

Now Arthur heaved a weary sigh. “He’s the same. Still unconscious. Doctors still have little hope of him waking up.”

Merlin nodded. He felt bad for what Arthur was going through. After this long, even if Uther were to regain consciousness, he would likely not be the same. His ability to communicate would probably be altered. So Arthur was dealing not only with lawyers and medical experts attempting to legally define Uther’s mental competency, but also his business associates and clients, as well as his daughter, all of whom seemed to think this stroke was their chance to take advantage of the ruthless businessman for their own benefit.

“I’m sorry.”

Arthur closed his eyes with another sigh and nodded in acknowledgement of Merlin’s sympathy. They had the same conversation almost every day now, which was starting to annoy Merlin, because he was used to being able to talk things through with Arthur, but all of Arthur’s energy was focused on his father and his work, and he had no time left for his friends. Merlin did recognise that it was rather selfish of him to feel this way, but he couldn’t help it.

Merlin didn’t know what else to say, and he wanted to get back to work, but he felt like it would be rude to turn away while Arthur was still sitting there.

“Are you going to the hospital tonight?”

“No.”

Arthur still didn’t move. Merlin wasn’t certain if he was allowed to bring up a new subject, and he didn’t want to keep harping about Uther’s condition, so he simply watched Arthur and tapped his fingers on the table, waiting for Arthur to either say something else or get up and leave.

Finally, Arthur seemed to sense Merlin’s impatience, and with a strained groan, he heaved himself up from the chair and started to walk away without even saying goodbye. Merlin turned back to his notes, sifting through the pages to find his research on 18th century exorcisms.

“Oh hey,” Arthur stopped a few steps away. “I asked Morgana yesterday if she had ever heard of the Old Religion.” Merlin whipped around in his chair, suddenly interested. “You know back when she was a teenager, she went through this crazy phase where she wore crystals all the time and thought she was some sort of Wiccan or druid or something. Drove Dad up the wall.” Arthur actually smiled at the memory. “Anyway, she didn’t know anything about it, but she said you should talk to one of my father’s old friends who actually studied all that mystical crap.”

Arthur pulled a business card from his wallet and handed it to Merlin. “He’s retired now, but he used to be some sort of alternative healer. His name is Gaius.”

Merlin took the card, surprised that Arthur had actually taken the time to talk with his sister about something other than the lawsuit. “Thanks, Arthur. I’ll give him a call.”

With a firm nod, Arthur turned away and walked briskly out of the reading room. Merlin watched him walk away, pleased that his friend still cared enough about him to show interest in his recent obsession and a little guilty that he hadn’t been more helpful to Arthur during this trying time. Perhaps tomorrow he could offer to take Arthur out to lunch to give him a break from everything.

But first, he would call Gaius and hopefully gain some insight into why a book about a pagan religion would be hidden in a Christian church.

******

“Oh yes, the Old Religion. I have several books on the subject. It was practised primarily by druids before the spread of Christianity.”

Gaius finished pouring Merlin’s tea and then walked out of the room, presumably to fetch the books he mentioned. When Merlin had called Gaius that morning, he insisted that Merlin come by his house, explaining that his hearing wasn’t what it used to be and he preferred to talk with people in person rather than over the phone.

Merlin took a sip of the rather pungent herbal tea Gaius had prepared and made a face, setting the cup back on the table and hoping Gaius wouldn’t be offended if he didn’t finish it.

“Here you are.” Gaius handed Merlin three books. Merlin paged through the books, glancing at the pictures and a few passages that stood out. Gaius sipped his tea. Clearly he wasn’t bothered by its bitter flavour.

“So from what I read in the one book I have, I guess the followers of the Old Religion worshiped nature and believed they could draw power from the earth?”

Gaius set his teacup down. “Not exactly. The word ‘religion’ here is a bit of a misnomer, I believe. They didn’t worship nature, however, they did have a deep understanding of natural sources of power.” Gaius raised one eyebrow. “The followers of the Old Religion were practitioners of magic.”

Merlin might have laughed at that, but Gaius’s stern glare seemed to forbid it. And besides, there was something deep within Merlin that wasn’t surprised to hear the term magic applied here.

Magic. The thought had been hovering in the back of Merlin’s mind since that first evening when he reacted so strongly to discovering the painting. Ever since he was a child, Merlin had loved stories of magic. Of fantasy worlds filled with mystical creatures, witches and warlocks, potions and spells. When he was young, he wanted to believe those stories were real. He thought that if he just believed hard enough, he might walk into his garden and discover a unicorn. He gathered dirt and grass and herbs and crushed them together in an attempt to create a magic poultice that, when blended with the morning dew, might have healing powers.

Dragons, in particular, had always appealed to Merlin. There was a statue in the library’s courtyard of a dragon curled up on a marble base, and Merlin often took his lunch outside to eat, seated on the ground beneath the shadow of the sleeping creature. He always smiled when children would visit the statue and imagine they saw it breathing, as if it were merely taking a break from its task of protecting the castle. Merlin would tell the children that when he was their age, he hid rounded stones under his bed, certain they were dragon’s eggs, waiting to hatch.

But Merlin was grown now, and he knew that, as much fun as those stories were, they were, of course, fictional. There was no such thing as magic. Those stones would never hatch. The statue would not wake and leap from its plinth, breathing fire and stretching its wings into the sky.

Stories of magic endured, because people were always looking for a way to escape the real world, and though it was exciting and rewarding to play in those fantasy lands, they were not real. Were they?

Merlin looked at Gaius, still staring at him, patiently awaiting his response as if he knew that Merlin was wrestling with ideas that threatened to completely change his view of the world. Biting his lip and looking down at the table, Merlin turned his teacup round and round. He raised his eyes once again to Gaius and asked, “Do you believe that magic is real?”

Gaius smiled. “I do.” His eyes twinkled. “That is, I believe that magic once was real. I believe that in ancient times, magic filled the earth and there were those rare individuals who possessed the gift of harnessing it and using it to perform spells and enchantments.”

Merlin’s heart beat rapidly as the pieces of the mystery he was pursuing started to fall into place. If there was magic in the world, but only certain people could harness it, perhaps that might explain why historically, some people could sense what they felt were evil spirits in the old church. And why Merlin felt so drawn to the painting, while Arthur had felt nothing.

“I have long believed that some calamity occurred, causing a powerful sorcerer to banish magic from the land. But I believe the source of magic is lying in wait for destiny to choose an exceptional person to release its power into the world once again.”

Merlin could not speak around the pounding of his pulse in his throat. What if some magical destiny had physically compelled him to uncover the painting in the wall and sent him prophetic dreams to guide his path? The words from the painting’s frame flitted through his mind.  _ The secrets of the earth’s power must be hidden. When the time is right, the chosen must locate the source.  _ Could he be the chosen one? Could it be his destiny to return magic to the land?

“But how?” Merlin finally asked. “Wouldn’t it require magic to find this source and release it?”

Gaius chuckled softly. “Oh, I don’t think all the magic is gone. I think it’s well hidden, but there are still hints of its presence. And some are more sensitive to detecting it than others. Have you ever had a sense of who was ringing before you picked up the phone?”

Merlin’s eyebrows drew together. Had this old man never heard of caller ID?

“Or have you felt drawn to a particular person before you even spoke to them? As if they were destined to be part of your life? Or perhaps you’ve felt the hairs on your arm stand on end just before you receive bad news.”

Merlin’s heart sank with disappointment. Gaius seemed to be a little barmy. Could Merlin trust anything he said?

Gaius leaned forward, raising one eyebrow again and looking at Merlin as if he could see straight into his soul. “Or you may have experienced dreams that predicted the future, so detailed and accurate they could only be caused by magic.”

Now Merlin swallowed hard. He had not mentioned his dreams about secret passageways to Gaius.

“There were rumours that centuries ago, when followers of the Old Religion had to go into hiding, they developed a secret way of communicating with one another. They could disguise their messages, so they couldn’t be intercepted by their enemies.” Gaius still held Merlin in his piercing gaze. “Perhaps the one who is destined to restore magic will discover and unveil some of the ancient sorcerers’ hidden messages.”

Merlin’s mind immediately flew to the blank journal he and Arthur had found hidden beneath the library. Was it possible the journal wasn’t blank after all? Could it contain one of these hidden messages Gaius spoke about?

There was something in Gaius’s twinkling eyes that told Merlin he knew more than he was letting on, but he didn’t seem inclined to share any further information with Merlin today, so Merlin thanked him and drove immediately back to the library.

He probably should have taken a bus, because he was shaking so hard, he wasn’t exactly the safest driver on the road. The more he thought about what Gaius said about followers of the Old Religion having to hide their writings, the more Merlin became certain the blank journal held the key to restoring magic. And he suspected he knew how to unveil whatever the journal was hiding. He felt there would be a spell he might use— he just had to find the right words.

Even though the library was open and full of patrons, Merlin burst through the doors and ran up the stairs toward his office. Once he arrived, he pulled the door closed behind him, knowing he would look ridiculous chanting Old English words at a book if anyone were to walk past and see him.

He opened a website that translated modern English into Old English. He knew he would probably have better luck asking Freya for help, but he didn’t want to have to explain everything to her. This was his quest— his destiny— and he preferred to proceed alone.

Merlin tried a variety of commands. “Reveal your secrets.” “Uncloak the words.” “Show me the magic!” But he wasn’t having any luck. He had no idea whether he needed a specific spell, or if any direct command in Old English from one who was magic-sensitive would work. After a while, he started to lose hope. Maybe he was wrong about the book containing hidden writing. Or maybe Gaius was wrong about the existence of magic. Or maybe Merlin simply wasn’t the one destined to return magic to the world.

He slammed the book closed and slumped back in his chair. Real life quests were so much more difficult than the game type he was used to. 

A sharp knock sounded, and the door to Merlin’s office swung open as Arthur stepped in.

“Arthur!” Merlin sat up straight, eager to tell Arthur everything he had learned. “I talked to Gaius. In fact, I went to his house. He showed me some books about the Old Religion, and he had some interesting thoughts about what started all of this.”

Merlin told Arthur about his conversation with Gaius, because as much as he felt this quest was his destiny, he could not resist the chance to share his excitement with his best friend. He was not surprised, though, when Arthur expressed scepticism about the existence of magic and Merlin’s belief that the clues in the library were leading him to restore magic to the world.

“But how else can you explain what happened to me that night?” Merlin said. “You were there. You saw what that painting was doing to me. How it was calling to me so strongly.”

Arthur nodded, but his expression was pinched and his shoulders were tight. “I know that you seemed anxious, and you were impatient to uncover the painting.”

Merlin huffed. “I wasn’t impatient. It was affecting me…” He waved his hand rapidly in front of his chest. “Physically!”

“You have to admit, you do have a tendency to get obsessed with things.” Arthur spoke sharply. “When something strikes your interest, you become rather single-minded, reading everything you can about the subject and spending all your time pursuing it. So much so that you forget about anything or anyone else around you. You have to admit that you do that.”

Before Merlin had a chance to respond, Arthur snatched up the blank journal and waved it in Merlin’s face. “You go right ahead and chase after this fantasy of yours, but make sure you keep up with your actual work as well.” He stood, slapped the book onto Merlin’s desk, and marched toward the door. “Summer is the busiest time at the library, as you well know, so I don’t want your little obsession to interfere with the services we provide for our young patrons.”

Arthur stormed out, slamming the door behind him, leaving Merlin to fume in anger and confusion. Why was Arthur acting so testy? It wasn’t like Merlin was falling behind on his work. He was still holding all the planned children’s programs, and The Quest was going beautifully. Gwen and Lance’s initial lead was already in jeopardy from at least three other teams, none of whom were regular library patrons. In addition, the teen participants in The Quest were checking out more books than usual. If anything, Merlin was sacrificing his own free time and even sleep in his pursuit of this mystery, but his work was not suffering, so where did Arthur get off accusing him of neglecting his duties?

Well fine, if Arthur didn’t want to help Merlin, he wouldn’t mention the Old Religion or magic or anything else to him again. It wasn’t like Merlin needed his help. He was quite capable of researching and investigating on his own. He had thought Arthur would find his research fascinating, since he had always been interested in the history of the library building, but if he didn’t care, then Merlin didn’t care to share his quest with him.

Merlin sulked for a while longer, his mind dredging up every instance of Arthur blowing off work to go to a football match. So really, Arthur wasn’t so perfect, either, was he? Merlin glared at his closed door, as if Arthur were still standing on the other side and could feel his resentful scowl through the wood.

Before Arthur came in, Merlin was about to give up on his research for the day and distract himself with library work, but now, simply out of spite, Merlin reached for the journal, ready to try a few more Old English commands.

When he opened the book, however, his heart leapt into his throat. The pages were somehow filled with scrawled writing and sketchy drawings. He flipped through the book, noticing the whole thing was written in Old English. He could not believe it! What had caused the words to show up? Had he given the right command, but the writing simply needed time to unveil itself?

Although he couldn’t read the words, based on the sketches of herbs, trees and creatures, he presumed the journal must catalogue tenets of the Old Religion. Merlin turned back to the front to see who had written this journal, but he found no name.

He continued searching the pages, until near the end of the book, he found a hand-drawn map of the castle. The map spanned several pages, and when Merlin reached the page with the basement level, his breath caught in his throat— the secret passage was part of the map!

Merlin leaned forward, examining the map closely. The castle was definitely smaller than he was used to. He knew the building had been renovated several times, first when it was a church and again during the 19th century in order to make it usable as a library. Some of the rooms on the map were different, but overall, it was still recognisable.

As Merlin looked for similarities and differences, he noticed, on the ground floor, a narrow room between what was now the Albion Gallery and the public computer room that he did not know existed. He started breathing faster. Could that be the second passage he had dreamt about? And was it still part of the building?

He knew he couldn’t investigate it while the library was open, both because he might need to enter from an area that was accessible to the public, and because Arthur might notice and accuse him of shirking his duties again. Merlin would have to wait until nighttime, after the library had closed, so he spent the rest of the day trying to decipher the words that had mysteriously shown up in the journal, and frequently checking the clock, waiting for closing time.

******

Merlin managed to stay holed up in his office all afternoon and evening. He hadn’t spoken to anyone since Arthur had stormed out, so he was feeling rather surly by the end of the day. He waited until well after the library closed before venturing out of his office, because he didn’t want to see anyone. Though he was quite anxious to investigate the passage, he was also starving, since he had skipped both lunch and dinner as he hid from Arthur, so he stopped by the break room for a snack and almost ran into Leon who was walking out of the room.

“Oh Merlin, you are here!” Leon shook his head. “For some reason, I thought you were out today.”

“No, I’ve just been busy in my office all day.”

“Ah. Are you helping Arthur, too?” Leon smiled, holding up his mug full of steaming coffee. “It’s going to be a long night. I’ve just made a fresh pot, so you’re welcome to it.”

Merlin was confused. “Helping Arthur?”

“Well, the Council meets tomorrow and they’re expecting the annual report on all the circulation statistics, program participation, budget— the whole works, so Arthur asked if I could run those reports tonight and prepare a presentation.”

Aha. So perhaps Arthur’s rant earlier was less about Merlin falling behind on his duties and more about Arthur’s guilt. “Why didn’t Arthur run those reports himself?”

Merlin’s bitter tone seemed to shock Leon. “He’s been at the hospital most of the day. Last night, his father started struggling to breathe. They would have put him on a ventilator, but he had a pretty specific advance directive that forbade it.”

A sudden coldness spread through Merlin as he stared wide-eyed at Leon. No wonder Arthur had been in a bad mood earlier. He thought back to their conversation. Had he even asked Arthur about his father?

Merlin’s hand flew to cover his mouth and his gaze dropped to the floor. He hadn’t. Arthur had probably come to his office looking for support, and Merlin started rambling about his own stuff. And then it hit Merlin. Arthur wasn’t upset that Merlin was neglecting his work. He was upset that Merlin was neglecting  _ him. _ And Merlin started shaking.

“I have to go. Sorry, Leon. Good luck finishing everything.”

All the way to the hospital, Merlin was kicking himself, thinking about what a terrible friend he’d been lately. He knew Arthur was stressed out, dealing with all the legal issues surrounding Uther’s stroke, but he hadn’t even thought about the fact that Arthur might be feeling sad about seeing Uther so ill and worrying he might die. Even if they hadn’t had a close relationship, he was still Arthur’s father, and he was important to him.

When he arrived at the hospital, Merlin ran toward Uther’s room, receiving several stern glares from nurses along the way. He paused outside the door to catch his breath and then knocked. The door was slightly ajar, so he pressed it open and peeked in.

“Arthur?” He said gently.

Arthur was sitting on a bench by the window on the opposite side of Uther’s bed staring at his phone, and when Merlin stepped hesitantly into the room, he looked up, surprised. “Merlin. What are you doing here?”

“Leon told me about your father.” He glanced at Uther, whose breath was shallow and rattling. Merlin stepped toward Arthur. “I’m so sorry, Arthur. You were right. I was too focused on my own stuff, and I didn’t— I should have—“

Merlin gestured helplessly between himself and Arthur, but Arthur waved off his concern. “Don’t worry about it.” He gave a half-smile.

Merlin nodded in question toward the bench, and Arthur shifted to make room for Merlin to sit beside him. “What do the doctors say?”

“He probably won’t make it through the night.”

Not quite sure what to say, Merlin simply scooted closer and wrapped his arm around Arthur’s waist. He squeezed him tight and leaned his head onto Arthur’s shoulder. At first, Arthur tensed up, but after a few moments, he relaxed into Merlin’s half-hug and leaned his head onto Merlin’s.

“Thank you for coming.”

Over the next few hours, Merlin listened as Arthur told him about the legal struggles he had been going through between Uther’s business and the lawsuit with Morgana. And Arthur listened as Merlin talked about both his excitement and his frustration with the mystery they had uncovered. They discusse d  library business and they talked about their shocking lack of a social life. Merlin leaned on Arthur’s shoulder as Arthur scrolled through his Facebook feed, and they laughed about things their old college friends were getting up to. Arthur fetched disgusting hospital coffee for them, and Merlin fetched packets of crisps from the vending machine.

Although the reason they were there never left his mind, as Uther lay in the bed beside their bench, limp and pale, his breath coming in strained, irregular patterns, Merlin found himself enjoying this quiet time with Arthur. At the moment, they were sitting on opposite ends of the bench, legs overlapping in the middle, as they both caught up with messages on their phones, and Merlin couldn’t remember the last time he had been so comfortable with someone.

He felt a little guilty, like he was taking advantage of Arthur’s vulnerability, and he thought he probably shouldn’t feel happy to be in this hospital room with Arthur, but then Arthur nudged the back of Merlin’s leg with his toes. “We should do this more often.”

Merlin raised his eyebrows and cut his eyes toward Uther, and Arthur actually laughed.

“Well not this exact thing, obviously.” Arthur rolled his eyes and then lowered his voice. “I’ve missed you.”

“We see each other every day.” Merlin couldn’t help pointing out, although he knew what Arthur meant.

Arthur shrugged. “Work doesn’t count.” He looked down, picking at a crease in his trousers. “We should—“

But then he turned sharply toward his father as Uther made a choked, gurgling noise and his arm started twitching. Arthur jumped up and flew to his father’s side. “Dad?” But Uther did not respond, his breath catching once again in his throat.

“I’ll go get a nurse!”

Merlin started toward the door, but Arthur called him back. “No, they can’t do anything, anyway.” Arthur reached out his hand. “Will you just stay here?”

Nodding slowly, Merlin took Arthur’s hand and held it as he came to stand beside him. Uther’s already pale skin was starting to take on a greyish hue and his chin was going slack. Merlin had never seen someone die before, and he found he couldn’t bear to look at him, so instead, he looked at Arthur. His jaw was clenched and his lips were pursed tight as he stared at his dying father.

“Talk to him.” Merlin gave Arthur’s hand a gentle squeeze. “You should tell him goodbye.”

Arthur took a shaky breath. “I’m here, Dad.” He put his free hand on Uther’s forehead, softly moving his thumb up and down. “It’s okay. You can let go. You’ve worked hard to give us a good life, and I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I’m sorry if I was a disappointment to you.”

Merlin’s eyes started welling up as he listened to Arthur apologise to his father. He hated that, even now, Arthur felt he had to seek his father’s approval.

“Mother’s waiting for you.”

Arthur’s voice broke and a tear slipped down his cheek. Merlin closed his eyes against his own tears, determined to be strong for Arthur. They stood in silence for a few moments as Uther’s breathing slowed to a stop, and then Merlin felt a tug on his hand as Arthur leaned forward. Merlin’s resolve broke and his tears poured out as he watched Arthur place a kiss on his father’s forehead. He whispered, “I love you, Dad,” and then turned to wrap his arms around Merlin.

Merlin gripped Arthur tightly as he felt him holding back sobs. Arthur and his father disagreed about many issues— mostly related to Arthur’s career choice, and Merlin always thought their relationship lacked affection, but even so, he was certain Uther cared for his son. “He loved you, Arthur. I know he did.”

As Arthur’s fingers dug into Merlin’s back, Merlin placed a soothing hand on Arthur’s head, stroking his hair. They stayed that way until a nurse came in, probably summoned by the cease of activity on Uther’s heart and blood pressure monitors. Arthur backed away from Merlin, swiping the back of his sleeve across his face.

Afterward, there was a bit of paperwork for Arthur to fill out and a few phone calls to make, but when they finally left the hospital, Merlin offered to give Arthur a ride home. This early in the morning, the streets were empty, but Arthur stared out the window in silence all the way back to his house. Merlin walked in with him, told him he should take a shower and change clothes while Merlin made some tea.

When Arthur came into the kitchen, he took a few sips, but then set his teacup down and pushed it away. “Will you stay with me tonight?” He turned swollen, pleading eyes to Merlin, and there was no way Merlin could say no.

He borrowed a t-shirt and a pair of running shorts from Arthur, and biting his lip nervously, slid under the covers to join Arthur in his bed. Arthur immediately scooted close, resting his head on Merlin’s shoulder and letting Merlin envelop him in his arms. Merlin’s heart beat fast as Arthur’s fingers traced up and down his chest.

“Thank you for being there tonight,” Arthur murmured. “I’m not sure what I would have done if you hadn’t been there. I probably would have just left and let him die alone.”

Merlin gave his shoulders a squeeze. “No, you wouldn’t.”

Arthur shrugged. “I didn’t even go see him the night before. It was getting boring just sitting there, watching him lie in the bed over the last couple of weeks.” Arthur ground his teeth. “Plus I was mad at him.”

He paused, as if he was ashamed to admit his frustration with his father, so Merlin stroked his hand up and down Arthur’s arm to let him know it was okay to talk about what he had been feeling.

“He was just there, unconscious, and I was having to deal with all this legal stuff about whether he was still in charge of his company or not. And that stupid lawsuit. And Morgana. She didn’t come see him once. And I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore, so I thought it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t go for just one day.”

Arthur huffed. “But of course, that’s the night he decides to give up and go ahead and start dying. Like he was trying to send me a message or something.”

“No, Arthur.” Merlin hugged him closer. “He wasn’t sending you a message. I think he knew everything you were doing for him. And you were there for him in the end. That’s what matters.”

Arthur tilted his head up to look Merlin in the face. “You think?”

“I know.” Merlin smiled and tried to pour all his strength and reassurance into his gaze.

Then Arthur leaned up and pressed a kiss to Merlin’s lips. And Merlin’s heart lurched. He had wanted to kiss Arthur since he first met him in uni, but was this really the right moment?

“Arthur,” he whispered, starting to pull away.

But Arthur pushed forward, parting his lips to capture Merlin’s and grabbing the back of Merlin’s head to pull him into the kiss. Merlin whimpered, but he couldn’t help responding. His tongue darted out to taste Arthur, and Arthur’s met him halfway. They both moaned and Merlin thought his chest might explode as he pulled Arthur close, gripping the muscles of his back through his thin t-shirt. Somewhere in the recesses of Merlin’s mind, he registered that this was probably a bad idea, considering what Arthur had been through that night, but he had wanted this for so long, and he cared so much for Arthur that he found he couldn’t stop the kiss.

Until Arthur reached between them and pressed his palm to Merlin’s growing erection.

Then suddenly, Merlin’s brain took over, and he jerked away. “Arthur, stop.”

“Come on.” Arthur pressed forward, tugging on the waistband of Merlin’s shorts. “I know you want this.”

Of course Merlin did, but he also knew that Arthur was overly tired and emotional, and even more than he wanted to sleep with Arthur, he wanted to be a good friend, so Merlin pushed away, trying to sit up.

“Arthur, you know I do, but tonight’s not the night.”

Arthur backed away, his face flushed and his eyes avoiding Merlin’s, looking for all the world like Merlin had slapped him in the face.

“Fine.” He started to scoot toward the end of the bed to get away from Merlin, so Merlin reached for his hand, but Arthur pulled it away, looking toward the door.

“Arthur, come on. Your father just died.”

“I know that.” Arthur ground out, anger replacing embarrassment as he shoved himself up from the bed and stalked out of his room, slamming the door behind him.

Merlin closed his eyes with a heavy sigh. He understood Arthur’s need to feel close with someone tonight, but Merlin didn’t want to be just a warm body. He didn’t think it would be good for either of them to use sex as a distraction from grief.

He got up and walked to the living room to find Arthur on the couch, holding the remote control on his knee, flipping rapidly through the channels. “You can let yourself out.”

Arthur’s voice was cold, and it pierced Merlin’s heart, but he decided that if they were going to make it through this, he would need to bite the bullet and make a difficult confession. Merlin joined him on the couch and placed his hand over Arthur’s, taking the remote and turning off the telly. Arthur made no move to stop him, and he took that as a good sign, even though Arthur continued looking toward the blank screen instead of at Merlin.

“Arthur, I have wanted to be with you for the last seven years. I love you.”

At that, Arthur turned to meet Merlin’s gaze, eyes wide with shock.

“But I’m afraid that if we have sex tonight, you’ll regret it tomorrow, and I couldn’t stand that.” Finally Arthur closed his eyes with a sigh, nodding his reluctant agreement. “If you still want me to go, I’ll go.”

Arthur reached for Merlin’s hands and gave them a squeeze. “No, stay.” He looked down with a self-deprecating snort. “I promise not to make a move on you again.”

After they had settled into bed again with Arthur spooned into Merlin’s embrace, Arthur tilted his head back and murmured, “I love you, too, Merlin.”

******

“Merlin!” Elena shouted across the library and then immediately clapped her hand across her mouth when several heads turned her way with harsh glares. “Sorry,” she apologised to the other patrons in a stage whisper, as she and Gwaine crossed the reading room to meet Merlin. “This step is impossible, Merlin. I think someone must have removed the clue.”

“Well, that’s certainly possible, although I did my best to give you clues that couldn’t be removed.” Merlin said. “Which clue are you on?”

Elena and Gwaine exchanged a vaguely annoyed smirk.

“Um,” Elena began. “It’s either Ezra Pound...”

“Or,” Gwaine continued for her, _"The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy.”_ He sneered and pointed accusingly at Merlin. “Oh yes, we’re onto you, Sneaky McSneakerson.”

Elena jumped in, speaking in a mocking voice that was clearly meant to be imitating Merlin. “I’m such a clever librarian. I’ll make those kids think they have to read an impossibly dense, novel-length poem.”

Gwaine took over, maintaining the same mocking tone. “When really I’m tricking them into reading a book about teenagers studying that impossibly dense, novel-length poem.”

Merlin struggled to hold back a laugh at this unlikely pair, who had started their partnership in such an antagonistic manner, but who were now finishing each other’s sentences.

Elena threw up her hands. “But there’s no clue anywhere near that book! Or the ridiculous Ezra Pound one, either!”

“So someone must have moved it,” Gwaine concluded with absolute certainty, and then he and Elena simultaneously threw their hands out wide in  exasperation and Merlin could not hold his laughter back any longer.

“Well, did you actually read the book?” At their disbelieving scoffs, he clarified, “Not the impossibly-dense one. The hilarious YA novel full of colourful characters that remind me so much of you lot.”

Gwaine rolled his eyes dramatically. “How dare you try to make us read books during our summer holiday? Who do you think you are? Our librarian?” And without waiting for an answer, he grabbed Elena by the hand and started pulling her toward the stairs. “Come on, partner. Let’s go find that bloody book.”

Merlin chuckled as he watched them leave and then he pulled out his phone to check the time. Only twenty minutes had passed since the last time he checked. He wanted it to be closing time already. Today was the day he and Arthur were finally going to venture into the second secret passage.

After Uther’s death, Arthur had to take a few days off to see to his funeral and to settle his affairs. But the morning after Uther died, Arthur had asked one favour of Merlin.

“Will you wait for me? Don’t go into that secret passage without me. I want to do that together.”

Frustration boiled momentarily in Merlin, but then when he looked into Arthur’s eyes, he felt that waiting was the right thing to do. Perhaps that’s how he should have approached this quest from the start. Looking at Arthur’s hopeful, smiling face, Merlin somehow knew they were meant to do this together.

So he had agreed, but the last few days had been more challenging than he expected. Knowing where the passage was and wondering what was inside it, but not being able to go searching was making his stomach churn with nervous excitement.

Or maybe that was the memory of kissing Arthur. He flushed every time he remembered that kiss. Even though Arthur hadn’t been at work much that week, he and Merlin had spent every evening together. They had talked that second night, and they both admitted that they wanted more from their relationship than friendship, but they mutually decided to go slow, at least while Arthur was dealing with the stressful requirements of settling his father’s affairs.

Merlin was glad they were holding off on physical activities, because it gave them a chance to talk in a more intimate way than they ever had before, and the more they talked, the harder he fell for Arthur. That in itself was making it more and more challenging to keep from kissing him and touching him the way Merlin longed to.

But tonight, finally, Arthur felt like he had reached a point where he could focus on something other than his father, so he told Merlin that after the library closed, they should explore the hidden passageway.

Merlin checked the time again. Two more minutes had passed.

He needed something to distract him while he waited, so he headed to the staff workroom to re-shelve some law books he knew Leon had recently repaired. As he gathered the books, he rolled his eyes. If it weren’t for a few overzealous professors at the local university, these outdated books could be weeded from the collection to make room for books that might be checked out more often.

When Merlin reached the Monmouth Wing, he thought he heard a voice, which surprised him, because these shelves were rarely visited. But then he heard a moan from a couple of rows down. Frowning, he continued that way to make certain whoever was there was okay, but when he looked down the row the moans were coming from, his stomach gave a leap. It was Elyan and Percy, and they were kissing! If he hadn’t been so surprised, he might have laughed out loud, because the sight was fairly comedic. Big Percy was nearly folded in two to reach Elyan’s lips. Merlin smiled, remembering when he was a teenager— those days of stolen kisses and secret explorations.

He didn’t want to put them on the spot, so he backed away slowly and then made some deliberate noise, scuffing his feet and clearing his throat as he approached. When he arrived at their aisle again, Elyan and Percy were standing at least a metre apart, each skimming the bookshelves. Elyan pulled out a book and then looked up as if he had just noticed Merlin.

“Oh hey. Did you need to reach these shelves?”

“I’m heading a couple of rows over. Are you guys working on The Quest, or did you suddenly develop an interest in the historical development of local laws?”

“No, just following the clues.” Elyan glanced toward Percy who nodded silently, and Merlin bit back a smile at Percy’s bright red cheeks.

“I’d like to tell you whether you’re on the right track or not, but unfortunately, I’m not allowed to give you any hints.” He continued a few rows down to shelve the books he was carrying. As he passed Elyan and Percy’s aisle on his way back, he called out to them, “Carry on!” And he hoped that they would, because he thought they made an adorable couple.

There was still half an hour until the library closed, and Merlin knew he wouldn’t be able to sit still in his office, so he headed to the circulation desk  to help  with the last minute check-outs. By the time all the patrons and most of the staff had left, Merlin felt like he was jumping out of his skin. He jogged up to Arthur’s office and rapped hard on the door, pushing it open and grinning at Arthur.

“It’s time!”

Arthur returned his grin, eyes sparkling, and said, “You’re adorable when you’re impatient, you know that?”

Merlin felt his cheeks warm, and Arthur logged off his computer, walked around his desk and planted a kiss on his cheek. It was the first time he had kissed Merlin at all since the night Uther died.

“You’re adorable when you blush, too.”

Then Arthur reached into a bag on the floor beside his desk and pulled out a crowbar. At Merlin’s raised eyebrows, he explained, “You said we could access the passage from the rear of the storage cupboard beneath the back stairs. It’s lined with wood panels, so we can use this to pry those loose.”

He took Merlin’s hand with a gleam in his eye. “You know, instead of clawing at the wall with our bare hands like you made us do in the basement the other day.”

As they walked to the ground floor, Merlin forgot about his impatience to get into the passageway. Arthur chattered at him the whole way, but Merlin was only halfway paying attention. He was so enjoying the pleasant warmth and the feeling of rightness of Arthur’s hand around his.

But when they arrived in the Albion Gallery, Merlin’s excitement about their quest returned. He pulled out the no-longer-blank journal and opened to the page with the map of the castle to show Arthur.

“See, it looks like the passage butts up against the stairwell, so if we remove those back panels, we should be able to find a way to access it.”

Merlin and Arthur had to move a few boxes in order to get to the back of the storage cupboard. Then Arthur used the crowbar to begin prying loose the panels. Merlin bit his lower lip, watching the muscles in Arthur’s back ripple as he pressed hard on the crowbar.

As soon as one panel was loose, Arthur pointed his torch into the small opening. “You were right, Merlin. There is a passage here.”

Merlin peered over Arthur’s shoulder, digging his fingers into Arthur’s sides in his excitement. “I knew it!”

They worked together to pry loose enough panels so they could squeeze into the passageway. Just like in Merlin’s dream, the passage was very narrow. It was barely wider than Merlin’s shoulders, so Arthur had to tilt sideways to walk through, and they both had to duck so they wouldn’t bump their heads on the ceiling. According to the hand-drawn map, the passage only ran the length of the rooms on either side, however Merlin had wondered whether the floor would slope downward, leading into another section of dungeons. He half expected to find it growing gradually steeper but the floor beneath them was flat, and as Arthur shone the torch forward, they could see the opposite end before them.

“So it’s more like a narrow room than a passageway. It doesn’t seem to lead anywhere,” Arthur said as he walked forward.

Merlin looked past Arthur, scanning the floor before them. His shoulders slumped. “And it’s empty. There’s nothing here at all.”

“Doesn’t look like it.” Arthur kept walking. “But let’s search around, just in case.”

They walked all the way to the opposite wall and did not find anything. Merlin sighed, unable to hide his disappointment.

“Maybe there’s something written on the wall somewhere?” Arthur started to shine his torch around, examining the walls carefully.

But then Merlin remembered something from his dream. As he walked through the passageway, he was running his hands along the stones. So while Arthur continued his search for writing, Merlin traced his fingers up and down the walls. His heart leapt when one of the stones shifted a bit under his touch.

“Arthur, I’ve got a loose stone here!”

Merlin scraped at the sides of it with his fingernails, trying to pry it loose. Arthur came up beside him and with the light of the torch, Merlin was able to find some crevices to fit his fingertips into, and he slowly pulled the stone away from the wall. Merlin reached into the opening and pulled out a large crystal. He held it up so Arthur could shine a light on it. The crystal was a cloudy, white quartz, about twenty centimetres long and seven centimetres in diameter.

“What’s that for?” Arthur asked.

“I’m not sure.” Merlin twirled the crystal round and round, examining it from all angles.

“The journal you found didn’t mention a crystal at all?”

“No,” Merlin answered.

“Let me see.” Arthur reached out for the crystal, and the moment his fingers touched it, Merlin saw a flash of what looked like the castle appear on its face.

“What was that?” Merlin leaned close, peering into the crystal's surface, but the image was gone.

Arthur gave him a confused look as he held the crystal flat in his palm. “What was what?”

“Just there.” Merlin pointed at its face, and as soon as his finger brushed the surface, images appeared again. He only saw flashes, like someone flipping through channels on the telly, hardly pausing long enough to focus on one show before clicking to the next.

“Merlin?” Arthur’s voice was gentle. “What do you see?”

Merlin looked up at Arthur. “Don’t you see it?” He looked at the crystal again. “Like scenes from a film set in the Middle Ages.”

Arthur leaned forward until his cheek was almost brushing Merlin’s. “I don’t see anything.”

Letting out a frustrated huff, Merlin threw his hand out and glared at Arthur. “It’s right there!” He looked down at the crystal again, and his heart nearly stopped. The images were gone. “No,” he whispered. “It’s gone.” He grabbed Arthur’s wrist to bring the crystal closer to his face. “I wasn’t imagining it!”

“I believe you.” Arthur wrapped one arm around Merlin’s waist and squeezed. He peered into Merlin’s face for a few moments, and then his eyes widened with sudden inspiration. “We both have to be touching it.”

He motioned toward the crystal, indicating that Merlin should place his finger back atop it. “I can’t see it, Merlin, but you can, so you have to tell me what you see. Describe the scenes.”

Merlin’s lips parted in surprise at Arthur’s faith in him, but he returned his attention to the crystal, trying to focus on each brief scene in order to describe them to Arthur.

“There’s a battle. It’s like knights attacking commoners. Or the other way around. I can’t tell. Some of them have swords and some don’t. And there’s a dragon, but it’s not flying. It’s tied up on the ground. And then it shows a gravestone with ivy growing all over it— I mean, it actually shows it growing, like in fast-motion— and then the ivy creeps into a keyhole. And then it goes back to the battle.” Merlin looked up at Arthur. “It just repeats all that over and over. What do you think it means?”

Arthur was silent, his eyes unfocused for a moment as he thought. “You said knights were attacking commoners? Why would they do that? Especially the ones who weren’t even armed. Unless, maybe those commoners were using magic as a weapon, and the knights were just defending their kingdom.”

That was possible, Merlin supposed. “That might explain why they had captured the dragon and tied him up. Maybe the non-magic folk were rebelling against those with magic. And maybe that’s when some particularly powerful sorcerer decided to get rid of magic, so he hid away the source, like Gaius said?”

Merlin and Arthur exchanged bemused looks. They had no way of knowing whether their guesses about what Merlin had seen in the crystal were correct.

“And you mentioned ivy. What do you think that meant?”

“I think it was just to show the passage of time and to lead me to that keyhole? Maybe I need to unlock something to find the source of magic?” Merlin laughed. “This is crazy!”

Arthur chuckled as well and glanced at the stone walls around them. “Do you think the keyhole is in here? Or maybe in that other passage?”

But Merlin shook his head. He had an idea about where to look for the keyhole. “The dragon that was tied up? I recognised it.”

“What?” Arthur asked, astounded. “How?”

“You know that statue in the courtyard? Over by the old cemetery from when this was a church?”

“The sleeping dragon.” Arthur was starting to catch on.

Merlin nodded. “The dragon in the crystal looked exactly like that when it was tied up and lying on the ground.”

“So you think the keyhole you need is where? In the base of the statue?”

“Maybe?” Merlin laughed again. “I don’t know, Arthur! I could be completely wrong, but some force has been guiding me this far, so it’s worth a look, don’t you think?”

Arthur agreed but declared that it was late and he was tired, so they decided to examine the statue the next day in the sunlight. Merlin walked Arthur to his car.

“Do you mind if I just go home alone tonight? I’m beat.” Arthur traced one finger along the back of Merlin’s hand as he spoke, causing Merlin’s stomach to leap into his throat. “But tomorrow’s Friday, so I think that after work, we should have dinner and then maybe you could come over to mine for a movie.” Arthur raised his eyes to Merlin’s and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. “Or something.”

Merlin smiled. “Or something, huh?”

With a cocky quirk of his eyebrows, Arthur tugged Merlin close. “You know, if we’re sitting there in the dark all pressed against each other on the couch.” He gave an innocent shrug. “You might not be able to resist getting a piece of this.” And before Merlin could tease him back, Arthur pulled him into a kiss that made his heart race and his toes curl.

******

The next day, Merlin and Arthur skipped lunch in order to go outside to investigate the dragon statue. Merlin started in what he thought of as “his spot,” the soft patch of grass below the dragon’s snout which, since it was located between the statue and an oak tree, was almost always shaded in the early afternoon.

“You know, I can see this statue from my office window,” Arthur said, heading toward the dragon’s tail.

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” Arthur leaned down to examine the marble base, but he glanced briefly in Merlin’s direction. “I see you eating your lunch out here sometimes.”

Merlin knelt in the grass and ran his hand over the stone. “It’s a nice peaceful spot.” He gave a half-hearted shrug. “I like it, anyway.”

“A cosy spot for one, I guess.”

Arthur moved to the opposite side of the statue as Merlin’s head shot up. Was Arthur upset?

Merlin hopped up and followed Arthur. “What do you mean  _ for one_?”

Without looking up from his careful examination of the marble, Arthur said, “Nothing. I guess I used to wish you’d invite me to join you sometimes.”

“Arthur…” Merlin didn’t know what to say. He always thought Arthur preferred to keep a professional distance at work, but maybe he had been pining for Merlin just as much as Merlin had been pining for him. He took a step closer to Arthur. “You should have said—“

“There’s something here.” Arthur pointed to a spot near the ground. “It might be a keyhole. Come here.“

Merlin started toward Arthur, but then he heard a voice behind him.

“Oh! Sorry! We didn’t know anyone was here.” Elyan and Percy appeared at the head of the statue and started to back away.

Arthur stood and brushed his trousers. “Not to worry. We were just checking the stonework here. Making sure there hasn’t been any damage.”

“Ah.” Percy nodded sagely, peering down at the statue’s base.

“Well, we came to check out the old graveyard over there.” Elyan pointed across the pavement to the old church cemetery. “We came across some books on local history while we were working on The Quest, and I wanted to see if any of the folks mentioned were buried here.” He waved one arm toward the graves. “Are these all from the time this was a church, or have there been any added since then?”

Arthur joined Elyan as he walked into the small cemetery, and Merlin and Percy trailed behind. Arthur pointed toward the headstones closest to the front. “There are a few spouses and descendants who chose to join their loved ones after the church had moved, but most of the graves date from the castle’s years as a church. Although,” Arthur raised his eyebrows and beckoned Elyan and the others toward the oldest section of the cemetery near the castle wall. “There are a few stones that seem to predate the church.”

He ran his hand across one cracked and moss-covered headstone that now stood crooked, as the ground beneath it had shifted and eroded over the centuries. Elyan and Percy hurried over, examining the ancient graves with enthusiasm. Arthur shot a gleaming smile at Merlin, clearly thrilled that these two young people were showing an interest in the castle’s history.

“A lot of these are too worn down to read.” Percy pointed out. “Did someone record what was on them before they got so bad?”

“Of course!” Arthur said. “There’s a book in the library with all that information. I can show it to you, if you’d like.”

Elyan was kneeling before one of the oldest headstones. “That’s odd. Most of these stones were very plain. Just the name and maybe a date on some. But this one has more elaborate carvings all across the top. Looks like ivy.”

Merlin’s heart leapt and his and Arthur’s gaze flew to each other. Ivy? On a gravestone? Just like Merlin had seen in the crystal the night before.

“Is there a name on that one?” Arthur got to the grave before Merlin and knelt beside Elyan. He brushed his fingers across the front, tracing the letters carved into the stone.

“What does it say?” Merlin’s heart was racing. Could this grave have something to do with their magical quest?

Arthur looked up at him. “There’s no date. It’s just a surname. It says Kilgharrah.”

******

After Elyan and Percy headed back into the library, Arthur showed Merlin the tiny hole he found at the base of the sleeping dragon’s plinth. They agreed that it might be a keyhole, but it was hard to tell. It didn’t seem to be deep enough to fit a key into, but they also weren’t certain there was an actual key.

“And what about that grave with the ivy on it?” Arthur kept bringing it up, even as he and Merlin returned to work. “Do you think it’s related, or is it just a coincidence?”

Merlin couldn’t answer that question or any of the other questions racing through his mind. Where was he supposed to find a key? And if the key did open the base of the statue, what would they find? What was the hidden source of magic? Would Merlin know how to release it, even if they found it?

But the biggest question haunting Merlin was why. Why had destiny chosen  _ him  _ for this role?

Fortunately, that afternoon, he didn’t have time to dwell on these questions or obsess about his quest. He had to corral twenty-three pre-schoolers and their parents into singing songs and making crafts in a dinosaur themed story time. When story time was finished, Merlin cleaned up the mess and straightened the chairs in the children’s reading area. He was re-shelving the books he had used when Gwen and Elena came up behind him.

“Merlin, I swear if you make me read one more book for this quest, I’m going to strangle you!” Elena emphasised her point by raising her hands in a throttling motion. “I had my own list of books I wanted to read this summer, you know.”

Merlin threw his hands up in defeat. “What book am I making you read now?”

“We were hoping it might be a simple picture book, but when we searched the library’s catalogue, we found this,” She waved a book so fast, he couldn’t focus on its cover. “And it just screams Merlin, you know?”

“What?” Merlin genuinely had no idea which book she meant, because none of the clues for The Quest required the participants to read a children’s book.

“Well we know it’s something about Rumpelstiltskin, because you underlined the word ‘dross’ in that poem, and when Ethan explains to Maura what dross is, he talks about Rumpelstiltskin spinning dross into gold.”

Finally Elena held the book out for him to see. It was  _ Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin, _ which granted, was a favourite of his, but it was not actually on this quest. However, now he realised they were only one step further than the last time he had talked to either of them. They were on the right track, but had guessed wrong about the book.

“Hmm,” he said, holding back a smirk. “That is a great book. Lots of butt jokes. You know, because the kid’s named Rump.” He glanced around the children’s section looking for Lance and Gwaine who he reckoned would appreciate his attempt at humour. “Where are your partners?”

“Oh, they’re both busy all weekend, but we have limited time and we didn’t want to fall behind, so we’ve ditched them and paired up with each other. Just for this weekend, though.” Elena clarified, pointing a threatening finger at Gwen. “And then, you better watch out, because Gwaine and I are in it to win it.”

Both girls laughed and started toward the door when they noticed one of the regular young patrons sitting at a table, reading.

“Hey Mordred,” Gwen greeted him in a sweet voice. “Your dad drop you off for the day again?”

Mordred shrugged. He lived with only his father, and although he was old enough to spend his days home alone while his father was at work, he often preferred to stay at the library and read instead. Sometimes Merlin could persuade him to help out with a children’s program, but today he was not in the mood to be helpful.

“Ooh!” Elena tapped Gwen’s shoulder. “Maybe he’s read it and can save us the trouble.” She held the book out to Mordred. “Have you read this one?”

“Couple of years ago.”

Mordred barely glanced up from his book, but Elena was not deterred. “So what’s it about? Is there anything in it that makes you think of another book? Or maybe even something else in the library?”

Without raising his eyes from the page, Mordred answered. “It’s about destiny.”

Merlin almost scoffed. It seemed destiny was a theme he couldn’t escape today. He leaned down to pick up some picture books from the floor.

“And the almost magical power of names,” Mordred continued. “Names definitely play a key role.”

Merlin’s head shot up and he stared at Mordred, his mouth dropping open slightly, but Gwen and Elena simply sighed. “Well, thanks anyway. I guess we’ll just have to read it.”

Mordred gave a smart-arsed smirk and called after them. “Although if you’re looking for something in the library related to Rumpelstiltskin, you might try that painting on the wall beside you.”

Gwen and Elena whipped around, spotting the painting Mordred was referring to. It depicted a scene from the fairy tale with the imp spinning straw into gold as the miller’s daughter looked on, and taped to the wall above it was a photograph of a statue located on the third floor of the library. The girls started laughing, handed the book to a still stunned Merlin, and dashed off toward the stairs.

Mordred had clearly lost interest, nose buried once again in his book, but Merlin’s mind was racing. Could Mordred’s words have been coincidence? Or was Merlin being guided once again? Mordred mentioned the words destiny, magic and key. That had to mean something. And he spoke of the power of a name. True, those were all important things in the book, but why had he chosen to phrase his answer that way?

Could the vision in the crystal have led Merlin not only to the keyhole on the dragon statue, but also to the name he needed to unlock it?

******

Arthur was in meetings all afternoon, so Merlin texted him. “Meet me in the reading room @ 7. I have the key.”

Merlin knew that as soon as Arthur saw the text, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate in his meetings, but Merlin didn’t care. If he had to sit on his excitement all afternoon, so did Arthur.

At the end of the day, Merlin felt jittery as he paced the length of the reading room, waiting for Arthur. He was glad it was Friday and the library closed early. He wasn’t sure what might happen if the name from the grave actually did unlock something under the dragon statue, but he was certain he and Arthur should be alone when they tried it.

“Merlin!” Arthur called to him, walking briskly across the wood floor. “I’m sorry I never texted you back. Listen, would you mind waiting another couple of hours before we try the key?”

Merlin’s heart dropped and his disappointment must have shown on his face, because Arthur’s eyes filled with sympathy. “I know! I’m sorry. It’s just that Morgana rang me, asking if she could take me to dinner. We haven’t even spoken since she didn’t show up for Dad’s funeral, so I just…” Arthur sighed. “If she’s reaching out to me, I feel like I can’t say no. In spite of everything she’s done, she’s still my sister.”

Arthur gave a helpless shrug, and Merlin could see in his face how much it meant to him to make peace with Morgana. As impatient as Merlin was to discover the next step in their quest, the statue wasn’t going anywhere. He could wait another few hours.

“Of course! Don’t even worry about it, Arthur. Tell Morgana I said hi!”

Merlin’s cheerful agreement to delay the quest seemed to be exactly what Arthur was hoping for, because he reached for Merlin’s hands, squeezing them with a relieved, “Thank you!” before heading out to meet his sister.

Rather than going home to eat, Merlin stopped by the break room, grabbed an apple and made himself a peanut butter sandwich. He washed it all down with a soda, mentally thanking Freya for keeping the fridge and cupboard well-stocked to feed the college interns.

After his stomach was pleasantly full, Merlin made his way back to the reading room, stopping first by the children’s section. He needed something to help pass the time, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus on anything too deep at the moment, so he selected the latest book in the  _ Hero’s Guide _ series. The hilarious adventures of the Princes Charming would be the perfect distraction as he waited for Arthur to return, so they could continue their own quest.

Merlin settled into an armchair, tucking his legs up underneath him and opened the book. Soon he was on the run with the League of Princes, and he barely noticed the hours passing. He snickered at Liam, who often reminded him of Arthur, snapping into his Brave Leader voice, and then laughed right out loud at gentle Duncan who couldn’t quite get his priorities straight.

“Must be a pretty good book.”

Arthur’s voice directly in front of Merlin startled him so much, he actually dropped the book to the floor. Arthur bent to pick it up and glanced at the cover. “You didn’t even hear me come in, did you?”

Merlin laughed again as he stood. “Obviously not. It is a good book. You’d love this whole series, Arthur.”

Arthur shook his head, placing the book onto one of the nearby tables. “Still trying to get me to read kids’ books, are you?”

“Well maybe I’ll mis-shelve it into adult fiction so Your Close-minded Highness will give it a chance!” Merlin shot Arthur a teasing sneer, but immediately softened his tone. “So how was dinner?”

“It was good. We had a good talk.”

A shadow in Arthur’s eyes told Merlin that, as usual, he was holding back, so Merlin pushed a little. He wished Arthur knew he didn’t have to keep everything bottled up anymore. “Is she still suing the company? And did she give any excuse for missing your dad’s funeral?”

Looking down with a mirthless smile, Arthur said, “She didn't come because she felt guilty. Since she never came to see him when he was in hospital, she felt she had given up her right to be at the funeral.” He frowned toward the floor. “She thought I would be angry if she came.” He chanced a hesitant glance at Merlin, pressing his lips together. “And she might be right.” He closed his eyes against the shame of his admission.

Merlin’s heart broke for Arthur, so he reached for his hands, pulling him into one of the armchairs and taking a seat in the chair beside his, never letting go of his hands. He stroked his thumb gently along Arthur’s skin, waiting for him to continue.

Arthur kept his gaze on the floor, his forehead creased. “I  _ was  _ mad at her. And not just because she didn’t visit. For the lawsuit. And for shutting Dad out. Like she was trying to hurt him.” He took a shuddering breath and then admitted what Merlin already suspected. “I blamed her. I blamed her for Dad’s stroke.”

Scooting closer and hooking his arm around Arthur’s, Merlin reassured him that his feelings were completely understandable, and that he was sure Morgana was blaming herself as well. Merlin kept a soothing touch on Arthur’s arm, and he listened as Arthur told him more about his and Morgana’s conversation at dinner. Apparently their conversation was not all smooth and full of sibling love, but by the end of the night, they were laughing and sharing fond memories of their father.

“What about the lawsuit?” Merlin wondered.

Arthur smiled. “She’s dropping it. She met with the new CEO, and he agreed to reinstate her in her old position. But she says she’s still gunning for his job, so I don’t imagine everything will be smooth sailing from here on out.”

Merlin laughed. “Well, I don’t imagine anyone associates the term smooth sailing with the Pendragons, do they? I think turbulence is more the standard in your family.”

Rolling his eyes, Arthur gave a flat, “ha ha,” but then he bumped Merlin’s shoulder with his own. “Thank you for being there through all of this.”

Merlin felt a pang of guilt, because he knew he hadn’t been there for Arthur at first. He was too obsessed with solving the mystery they had discovered to notice that Arthur needed him.

But before he could apologise, Arthur leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips. Electricity shot through Merlin, and he let out an involuntary sigh. He felt Arthur smile against his lips as his hands raised to Merlin’s cheeks, his warm fingers tracing sparks into Merlin’s skin. Merlin tilted his head and parted his lips, his own fingers tugging on Arthur’s shirt, trying to pull him closer. One of Arthur’s hands slid down Merlin’s back and curled around his arse, squeezing hard. Merlin tossed his head back with a gasp, and Arthur lost no time in trailing his lips down Merlin’s exposed neck, nipping and kissing at his sensitive skin.

Just as Merlin was about to suggest they forget about the quest completely and head over to his place, Arthur pulled away and ruffled Merlin’s hair with a blinding smile. “So. You found the key?”

Breathless, Merlin huffed out a laugh and shook his head. What had he just said about expecting turbulence from a Pendragon?

“It’s the name.” He reached up to smooth his hair. “Kilgharrah? From the grave with the ivy? I think that’s the dragon’s name, and I think his name will unlock something in the stand beneath him.”

Arthur looked baffled. “A name? How does a name work as a key?” He laughed. “Do we carve it into the stone, or do we just have to say it?”

“I can’t explain it, but I think I know what to do,” Merlin said. “We’ll need the crystal that we found and,” he shrugged, “just the two of us.”

Arthur looked intrigued. “Just the two of us?” He stood, reaching his hand out to Merlin. “I like the sound of that.”

******

Merlin’s pulse was racing as they approached the statue of the sleeping dragon. What if he was wrong? What if the name wasn’t the key at all? Or what if there was no key? What if he was leading Arthur on a wild goose chase all this time, and the things they had found so far meant nothing and there really was no such thing as magic?

Arthur seemed to sense Merlin’s anxiety, and he reached for his hand. Just that simple touch calmed Merlin’s heart and filled him with a sense of peace. Even if nothing else came of this, he and Arthur were together now, and that meant more to Merlin than any quest.

They approached the tiny keyhole Arthur had found earlier that day, and Merlin instructed Arthur to sit cross-legged before it. He took his place beside Arthur, but before they started, he felt he needed to explain a few things.

“If I’m right, whatever magic might be at work here involves the connection between the two of us. You know how I could only see the visions in the crystal when both of us were touching it?” Arthur nodded. “And that journal was blank until each of us had handled it. Whatever is happening here, I am certain that it involves you and me.”

He handed Arthur the crystal. “Hold this in your left hand and give me your right hand.” Merlin squeezed Arthur’s hand and took a deep breath. “Ready?”

When Arthur gave a firm nod, Merlin placed his right hand flat on the marble, covering the keyhole. He closed his eyes and tried to picture the dragon the way the children seemed to see him. A living, breathing creature, taking a little nap atop the plinth in the library courtyard, ready to wake up at any moment and leap into the sky.

Merlin opened his eyes, reached deep within himself and cried out in a deep, raspy voice, “Kilgharrah!”

Nothing happened.

His shoulders slumped and he stared in disbelief at the little hole he believed was a keyhole. “I really thought that would work.”

Arthur put his hand on Merlin’s back, rubbing gentle circles into his skin.

“Why didn’t it work?” Merlin wondered.

Arthur froze. “Maybe I have to touch it, too.”

He placed his hand over the little keyhole, but still nothing happened, so his hand returned to its comforting spot on Merlin’s back. They sat in silence, and Merlin felt the weight of his disappointment crash around him all of a sudden. He screwed his eyes shut against the tears that were threatening to fall, but he couldn’t hold back a small sniffle.

At once, Arthur enveloped him in comforting warmth. “Hey, just because this didn’t work, that doesn’t mean nothing will. Don’t give up on the quest just yet.” He planted sweet kisses along Merlin’s temple and then leaned back. His arms were still wrapped around Merlin, but his face showed that he had shifted into analytical mode.

“Let’s think this through. We were never actually certain this was a keyhole, and in addition, since we’re using more of a metaphorical key rather than a literal one, perhaps whatever we’re looking to unlock is also a bit more abstract.”

Merlin stared at the man he loved, and his spirits lifted by the moment as he noted the charming juxtaposition of the sensitive Arthur sitting on the ground, holding Merlin in his arms, with the logical Arthur analysing the situation and working toward a rational solution.

When Arthur said, “we need to make a list of everything we know, separating the facts from our conjectures,” while absently stroking his fingers through Merlin’s hair, Merlin couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward with a fond chuckle and silenced Arthur with a kiss.

After a few moments, Arthur pulled back with an amused, “What was that all about?”

Merlin stood, reaching his hand down to pull Arthur up as well. “I just really love you. That’s all.” He walked toward the far end of the courtyard where the old graves were located, still holding Arthur’s hand. “I think you’re right about the abstract nature of what we’re unlocking. In the vision I saw, the ivy crept into a keyhole on a gravestone. I thought that meant I had to look for an actual keyhole to unlock, but maybe the vision was more about the grave itself.”

They arrived at the stone with ivy carved into it and Merlin sat, tugging Arthur to the ground beside him. “Let’s try it again. You hold the crystal...”

“And your hand, I know. Because destiny wants us together. Blah blah blah.” Arthur squeezed Merlin’s hand with an amused smirk.

“Exactly.” Merlin grinned and then turned his attention to the stone before him. He placed his palm flat on the name, _Kilgharrah,_ and once again, reached deep within himself, imagining the ivy creeping across the stone and unlocking its secrets.

This time, when he called out the name, he heard a cracking sound and jerked his hand back as the gravestone split underneath his fingers.

He and Arthur exchanged a surprised glance and then stared as the crack splintered the stone all the way to the bottom. But it didn’t stop. The earth beneath them started to shift, and a seam opened in the ground. They both scrambled to their feet as loose dirt fell into the widening crack.

“It worked!” Merlin looked at Arthur in delight, but Arthur was still staring at the ground.

“Merlin?” His voice sounded nervous, so Merlin followed his gaze to the crack in the earth.

A reddish glow seemed to emanate from beneath the ground. As the crack continued to widen, the glow became stronger. When the earth finally stopped shifting, Merlin and Arthur, still gripping one another’s hand, knelt and peered into the gap.

“What the hell?” Arthur was clearly frightened by what he saw, but Merlin felt an odd sense of peace come over him, so he reached into the hole and pulled out the glowing object.

“Is that…” Arthur stared at the item in Merlin’s hand with horror. “A heart?”

Still glowing red, the item Merlin had retrieved from the ground certainly resembled a large, three-chambered heart, but he reassured Arthur. “It’s not a real heart. It’s made of stone.”

He held it out to Arthur who poked at it with a tentative finger. “How is it glowing?”

Merlin shrugged dramatically. “I’m going to go with… magic?”

Arthur laughed and looked back at Merlin, astounded. “You know, I’m not sure I completely believed until this moment.” He glanced back down at the glowing heart. “What are you supposed to do with that now?”

Merlin stared at the heart. As he held it in his hand, a tingling warmth spread up his arm toward his own heart, and suddenly he felt an almost fond connection to it, as if he and its owner were kin.

“It’s Kilgharrah’s heart.”

Merlin wasn’t certain where the notion had come from, but as he looked from the heart to Arthur and back toward the sleeping dragon, he felt confident he was right. The heart belonged to the dragon, and in order for magic to return to the world, Merlin had to return it to its rightful place.

“Come on.” He reached for Arthur’s hand and led him back to the statue.

They walked up to the dragon’s head, and Merlin placed his hand on its snout. He almost spoke to the creature, but he stopped himself, not wanting to look silly in front of Arthur. Instead he gave the stone dragon a few reassuring pats, silently letting it know he was there to help.

Arthur surprised him, though. He placed his hand beside Merlin’s, rubbing gently up and down the dragon’s snout. “Hi there, Kilgharrah— at least we think that’s your name! We’re very sorry your heart was taken from you, but Merlin’s found it now, and we’d like to return it to you.”

Once again, Merlin’s love for this incredible man threatened to overwhelm him, but he fought his instincts. Rather than leaning in to devour Arthur’s lips in that moment, he took a deep breath and walked to the side of the statue, toward the dragon’s chest. After carefully placing the heart onto the plinth, Merlin hoisted himself up beside it.

He wasn’t certain whether he was supposed to leave the stone heart beside the dragon, or try to balance it near the spot within its chest where it belonged, but the moment he lifted the heart, it started shining brighter. Its dull, red glow was now as bright as a traffic light, and the closer he held the heart to the dragon, the brighter it shone.

“Put it back into his chest, Merlin.” Arthur’s voice was urgent. “He needs it inside him.”

Merlin gave Arthur a confused look, holding the heart out before him. “How am I supposed to do that? They’re made of stone!”

Arthur threw his hands out with a scoff, as if the solution was obvious. “Uh... Magic?”

Looking back and forth between the heart and the statue, both formed from solid stone, even after all the unexplainable things that had happened so far, Merlin couldn’t quite make himself believe he’d be able to press one solid object inside another.

“You can do it, Merlin.” Arthur stepped closer, placing his hand on the dragon’s front leg. “Remember what the painting’s frame said? About someone being chosen to locate the source of magic? That’s you. You’re meant to do this.”

Merlin placed the heart against the dragon’s chest and the stone glowed so brilliantly, he had to squint and turn his head, but he still didn’t believe he would be able to put it inside the statue. He wondered if he was letting fate down, but he couldn’t seem to silence his doubt. He looked down at Arthur, who was smiling up at him, so supportive and confident, and suddenly, Merlin realised what was holding him back. He was missing one key element for the magic to work.

“Arthur, you have to help. We were both chosen for this task. I don’t think I can do it without you.”

Arthur raised his eyebrows with a soft smile that widened slowly as he nodded and scrambled up onto the statue’s base to take his place beside Merlin. Merlin held the heart out to him, expecting Arthur to place his hand on it, so they could return it to the dragon together, but Arthur hesitated.

“Hey,” he said gently. “Remember all those nights back at uni when we were supposed to be studying, but instead we just hung out all night in the library talking about our favourite myths and legends?”

Merlin quirked his head. What made Arthur think of that right now?

“You always had this brilliant sparkle in your eyes when you talked about wizards and dragons and stuff. It was like all of that was almost real to you. I so envied your imagination! I was over there studiously comparing different versions of the stories and applying the lessons in them to current events, but you were all about expanding on them and making the stories your own.”

Arthur placed his hand on the small of Merlin’s back and fidgeted with the loose fabric of his shirt. “All those nights in the library sharing stories of gods and fate and magic—” Arthur pursed his lips together and looked down with a secret smile. “That’s when I fell in love with you.”

Merlin’s chest constricted and he let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob, because, of course, he felt the same. Those late-night discussions with Arthur had meant so much to him, and his years of pining for this man began right there in the university library.

“And look at us now!” Arthur’s eyes lit up as he waved his hand from the glowing heart to the dragon before them and around to the library behind them. “It’s like we’ve stepped right into one of your stories, Merlin. I never would have believed this was possible.”

Merlin slid his arm around Arthur’s waist and they stood pressed against one another in silence, taking in the significance of this moment before Merlin gave Arthur a squeeze and asked, “Ready?”

“Ready.”

Together, they pressed the stone heart against the dragon’s chest beneath its wing and the light emanating from within it started to pulse. Merlin took a deep, shuddering breath and felt Arthur do the same. In one swift movement, they exhaled and shoved the heart forward.

Impossibly, the stone beneath it seemed to soften, allowing them to push the heart into the statue until it completely disappeared into the dragon’s chest. They exchanged a nervous glance and took a step back, not quite sure what might happen next.

And then Merlin cried out. He felt as if he was suddenly submerged in a warm pool of swirling water. The sensation overwhelmed him, making his knees buckle. Fortunately, Arthur’s arm was still around his waist. He caught Merlin as he crumpled and helped him down from the plinth.

“Merlin? What is it? What happened?”

Before Merlin could answer, a strong breeze whooshed over them. Both Merlin’s and Arthur’s heads whipped to face the dragon. Merlin jolted and Arthur tightened his grip around him, gasping aloud.

The dragon was no longer made of stone. It stood, spreading its wings and swishing its tail. Both Merlin and Arthur scrambled backward. The dragon appeared much larger than it had when it was curled up on its plinth.

Merlin was glad he was already seated on the ground, because his legs were quivering. He could feel Arthur gulping back breaths as his fingers dug into Merlin’s forearm. They said nothing, watching the dragon stretch and shuffle its feet on the marble.

So far, it hadn’t seemed to notice them, and Merlin wondered whether this dragon, like so many in the old myths, could breathe fire. Was it a danger to them? And if they somehow escaped its notice, what happened next? Would it fly around Camelot attacking innocent people?

Slowly, Merlin leaned close to Arthur so he could whisper quietly, hoping the dragon wouldn’t hear, “What should we do?”

But before Arthur could respond, the dragon quirked its head around and looked directly at them. Merlin froze, holding his breath and staring into the eyes of the great beast. Arthur tensed beside him, swallowing hard.

“Ah, my rescuers, I presume.”

Merlin’s mind reeled. Had the dragon spoken?

As Merlin focused on the dragon’s face, it dipped its head and addressed him and Arthur again.

“I wish to thank you for returning me to life. For many years, I lay trapped in that form.” The dragon looked around the courtyard and then back at Merlin, narrowing its eyes. “Perhaps centuries.”

Arthur got to his feet, brushing off his trousers. “You are very welcome. My name is Arthur Pendragon, and this…” He waited until Merlin was also standing. “This is Merlin Emrys. He’s the one who pursued all the clues and released your heart from the grave.”

The dragon bowed toward Merlin. “I am Kilgharrah. I have waited patiently for a sorcerer capable of releasing me. Many have tried, and many have failed.”

Merlin gasped. “You mean you were aware of time passing while you were frozen in stone?”

“I had a vague awareness.” Kilgharrah’s voice was gruff, but gentle. “I could not see or hear what was happening around me, but I could always sense the presence of magic. Over the years, the magic has lessened, but I had faith that one day, I would be freed.”

“You mentioned that others have tried to free you,” Arthur asked. “Do you know who they were?”

Kilgharrah shook his massive head. “I do not. Although I know that much time has passed since the last attempt.” The dragon leaned forward, focusing closely on Arthur’s face. “You do not have magic.”

Arthur gave a dry chuckle. “No kidding.”

“I do not mean to insult. I only mean that when I was imprisoned, sorcerers were under constant attack from their non-magical peers. The battles were long and bloody; many lost their lives in the struggle for power. All of my fellow dragons were killed, and I was captured, but as the knights came at me with their swords, the leader of the sorcerers stalled them. He declared the war had gone on long enough, and the only way to bring peace was to suppress all magic until a time when sorcerers and those without magic might find a way to get along.”

Merlin and Arthur glanced at one another, sharing an ‘aha’ moment. It seemed they had guessed right about the battle Merlin had seen in the crystal, and Gaius had been right about a powerful sorcerer getting rid of magic.

“Many believed sorcerers would never be able to live peacefully with those who feared their magic. Better to live in a world without magic than a world constantly at war. The magical leader believed, however, that understanding might lead to peace. For that reason, he wove into his spell a requirement that cooperation between the two sides must be used to undo the enchantment.”

Kilgharrah turned to Merlin. “Although your magic is powerful, you would not have been able to free me and restore magic to the world without the help of your non-magical friend.”

Merlin’s heart filled with warmth at Kilgharrah’s confirmation that he and Arthur were stronger together than apart. He shuffled sideways until his shoulder was pressed against Arthur’s. Their hands sought one another, fingers linking, as Arthur continued interrogating the dragon.

“If Merlin has indeed restored magic, what does that mean? Are there other sorcerers out there? Most people don’t even believe magic is real. How will those with magic know how to control their new abilities? Are there spells they’ll need to learn? And what sorts of magic can we expect? Will magic users pose a threat to others?”

A resounding laugh bubbled from deep within the dragon’s chest. “So many questions! It seems fate paired a powerful sorcerer with a cunning leader for this task. You will have to discover the answers to those questions on your own. I know little of this new world I have awakened into. Perhaps you were chosen because you have the resources to pursue the answers you seek.”

Both Merlin and Arthur looked toward the library and then exchanged a smile.

“But what about you?” Merlin asked Kilgharrah. “If you’re the only dragon left, where will you go? People aren’t going to like a dragon flying around the city. They might try to capture you again.”

“Oh, dragons are quite adept at hiding, I assure you.”

Arthur snorted quietly, clearly sceptical about a dragon as large as Kilgharrah being able to remain hidden in the modern world, but he didn’t pursue the topic. “Do you have any advice for us on how to re-introduce magic into a society of unbelievers?”

Kilgharrah stretched his broad wings and looked toward the sky. “The returning magic initiates here and will spread slowly outward from this spot, so you will have time to formulate a plan. Although, you may find more who are willing to believe than you think.”

Then the dragon leapt from his plinth and hovered for a moment over the courtyard, the breeze from his flapping wings mussing Merlin’s hair and clothes. He looked up toward Kilgharrah, blinking against the strong wind. “Will we see you again?”

Kilgharrah dipped his head with a smile. “You are a creature of magic, as I am, young warlock. I suspect our paths will cross many times in the years to come.”

Merlin and Arthur stared upward as Kilgharrah rose into the sky, and they kept their eyes trained on the enormous, yet somehow graceful dragon until he disappeared into the clouds. Afterward, they stood in silence for a moment until Arthur started laughing.

He turned a wide-eyed gaze on Merlin, shaking his head. “That didn’t really happen, did it?” He barked an incredulous laugh. “We did not just have a conversation with an actual dragon.”

“No.” Merlin shook his head adamantly, joining Arthur in his laughter. “We absolutely did not.”

Arthur ran a hand through his hair, looking once again toward the sky and then toward the empty plinth. “Hey,” he said, whipping his head back to face Merlin. “Try some magic.”

“What?”

“Well, supposedly we’ve just brought magic back, and you’re some sort of powerful sorcerer. So try a spell.”

Merlin threw his arms out with a scoff. “I don’t know any spells! Unless you think  _ Wingardium Leviosa _ will actually work!”

He laughed, but Arthur shook his head. “Haven’t you been reading all those books on the Old Religion? Surely you’ve learned something you could try.”

Merlin chuckled again, but then paused, biting his lower lip. The few books he had read focused mostly on the history of the religion, but in the journal, Merlin had noticed what seemed to be basic elemental spells accompanied by diagrams illustrating their effects.

He looked up at Arthur, hesitant. Even though he had just seen magic at work, Merlin was uncertain about his own ability to perform an enchantment. Arthur, however, did not share Merlin’s doubt. He grinned.

“You do know a spell, don’t you?” He punched his own palm with glee. “Try it!”

So Merlin cast his gaze around the courtyard, searching beneath the trees for a stray branch. He spotted one near the graveyard, and Arthur followed him as he went to pick it up. Merlin cleared off the smaller stems and leaves until he ended up with a fairly straight stick, almost a metre long.

“You better stand back,” he told Arthur. “In case this doesn’t work like I think it will.” He held the branch out before him, focused on the tip, trying to picture it burning like a torch, and spoke the words of the spell. _“Bæl on bryne.”_

A bright orange flame burst from the end of the stick, and Merlin almost dropped it in his shock.

“You did it,” Arthur breathed, stepping forward to place his hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “Merlin, you can do magic.”

Merlin stared in disbelief at the burning branch in his hand, and he suddenly felt completely overwhelmed. “Arthur! Magic. I mean… real magic.” His eyes bulged. “How? Arthur, how are we going to do this? What if there are other people like me? What if people just start setting fires all over the place?” He shook his head. “What if they start attacking people or using magic to, like, break into shops and steal things?”

Arthur calmly took the branch from Merlin’s hand, placed it on the ground and stomped on the end, putting out the flame. Then he turned toward Merlin and gripped both of his shoulders.

“Merlin, you’re freaking out.”

“Um, yeah! Why aren’t you?”

With an indulgent smile, Arthur leaned forward and kissed Merlin’s forehead. “It’s like the dragon told us.” He closed his eyes with a silent chuckle as he recognised the bizarreness of that statement, but he recovered quickly and continued, “You and I were chosen for this task, because we as a team are uniquely equipped to face this challenge. With your magic, a whole library of resources, and of course, my impressive mind and matchless leadership skills...”

Merlin snorted, and Arthur ignored him.

“...I am confident that you and I, together, will be able to introduce magic back into our world in a peaceful and productive way.”

Looking into Arthur’s eyes— eyes that shone with faith in the man he loved— Merlin nodded. He was certain that in the coming weeks, both he and Arthur would have moments of doubt and even a few freak-outs, but for now, Merlin trusted that with Arthur by his side, he could face anything.

Arm in arm, they walked back into the library to begin their research, but Merlin couldn’t help one more minor rush of dread. He dropped his head on Arthur’s shoulder as they walked past the empty plinth.

“What are we going to tell the trustees about the missing statue?”

******

A few weeks later, the participants of The Quest gathered in the basement meeting room for their end-of-summer party and for the announcement of the winners. The wall had been patched up, so the messy hole Merlin and Arthur had created at the beginning of the summer was no longer visible. The painting that provided entry to the secret passage remained, but for now, the passage was still secret. Arthur was working with a local historian to publish a paper detailing the history of the hidden chamber.

Merlin and Arthur leaned against the back wall, sipping sodas and watching the teens as they munched on snacks and compared notes from their treasure hunt.

“We got stuck on the one with the word search,” Vivian complained to Elena. “We found all the words, but then we couldn’t unscramble the leftover letters. There were too many i’s! And plus, we had no idea how many words we were supposed to make.”

Elena grabbed Vivian’s arm. “I know! That one took us forever! I finally figured out  _ invisible  _ was in there, and then Gwaine just searched the catalog for YA books with the word invisible in the title.”

“So what book was it?” Mithan asked.

_ “She is Not Invisible,” _ Gwaine answered around a mouthful of crisps. “It was a mystery about this blind London girl and her brother.” He shrugged. “Decent book. Not my cup of tea.”

Merlin turned to see Gwen jabbing her brother in the ribs. “Why won’t you tell me? I told you how far Lance and I got.”

“Leave him alone, Gwen.” Lance tried to pull her away, and then more quietly, said, “Look, they weren’t one of the teams we kept crossing paths with, so don’t make him feel bad if they didn’t get as far as some of us did. He and Percy are fairly new to the library, after all.”

Gwen followed Lance to join Owain and Sefa, but she kept throwing suspicious glances over her shoulder at Elyan.

Arthur nudged Merlin, drawing his attention away from the sibling rivalry. “How was your lunch with Gaius?”

“It was good. We practised a healing potion. A few herbs, some fresh spring water and a healthy dose of magic, and I should be able to sooth your sore knees next time you think you’re young enough to play rugby in the park with the lads.”

“We’re the same age, you goon!” Arthur shoved Merlin gently.

“No,” Merlin said. “You are three and a half months older than I am, and I intend never to let you forget it.”

“Pathetic.” Arthur shook his head. “Resorting to insulting my age simply because you suck at sports.”

Merlin bit his lip and leaned closer to Arthur, lowering his voice. “At least I excel at certain other physical activities.” He could feel his cheeks flushing, and he hoped none of the kids would notice.

Arthur looked away, biting back a smile. “Is Will still threatening to rent out your room?”

“Well, I never use it anymore, so even if he did rent it out, I might not actually notice.”

“Maybe you should just—”

Merlin’s heart leapt, wondering whether Arthur might ask him to move in with him so soon, but Gwen and Lance approached just then, so they both stood up straight, clearing their throats and trying to look professional.

“Hey Merlin,” Gwen asked. “How did that quest of yours work out? Did you figure out what that hidden room was used for?”

Merlin smiled. As he learned to control his magic, he had discovered more hidden information in the mysterious journal they found, so he and Arthur were able to do more research into the history of the secret chamber.

“I did. You were right about the room being related to the evil spirits some people felt in this building. It seems one of the deacons of the church in the 1700s believed that magic existed and that some people were more sensitive to detecting it than others. In fact, he believed he could sense the presence of magic in the castle grounds.”

“Magic?” Gwen laughed. “I thought those religious types were against magic. Is that why he made that secret room? To hide from the  _ evil magic _ ?” She added a spooky tone to her last words.

“No, in fact he was trying to find the source of the magic he and others could feel. He gathered information on followers of the Old Religion who supposedly practised magic centuries ago, but he had to hide his investigations from his fellow clergy members. Arthur and I believe he found the secret passage to the hidden room and used it to hide his research.”

Lance looked thoughtful. “Did he find anything? I mean, obviously he didn’t find any actual magic, but did he discover whatever made people think there were spirits or magic in this castle?”

Merlin exchanged a knowing glance with Arthur. They had decided they needed more time before sharing the truth about magic with the general public. So far, only Gaius and Merlin’s mother knew, but they were carefully laying the groundwork to tell the library staff next, since the castle was currently the focal point for all the magic in the world. However, Merlin and Arthur felt okay hinting at the truth with people. After all, a little mystery never hurt anyone.

“We don’t know yet.” Arthur’s eyes twinkled as he spoke. “We found an old journal where the deacon and others like him had recorded some of their theories. This old building definitely held secrets, and maybe one day we’ll uncover them.”

Gwen and Lance looked intrigued, but Merlin decided they’d had enough history lessons for one day, so he clapped his hands together. “And speaking of secrets, I think we’ve kept the identity of our winners hidden for long enough.”

He ushered Gwen and Lance back toward the others and raised his voice to get everyone’s attention. “If you’ll all take your seats, I think it’s time to reveal the winners of The Quest and present them with their prize.”

The kids broke away from their small groups and sat beside their partners in the large circle of chairs Merlin and Arthur had set up before the party. Merlin took a seat beside Arthur and peered around the circle, his heart fit to burst. There were twenty chairs and every one of them was filled. In addition, he had put out a sign-up sheet for the YA Book Club, and there were already at least a dozen names on it.

Merlin took a moment to look at each of the kids before he began. Elena sat on the edge of her seat, wringing her hands together. Gwaine leaned back with one leg stretched out before him, trying to portray an image of casual indifference to the proceedings, but his other knee jiggled up and down, betraying his cool exterior. Gwen’s fingers gripped Lance’s forearm tight enough to leave marks. Elyan and Percy bent their heads together, whispering as they glanced around at the other pairs.

Every one of the teens in this circle had put a tremendous amount of time and effort into solving the clues Merlin had set them. They had explored every section of the library. They got to know the library staff. And they read books all summer long. These young adults tried out different genres and fell in love with new authors. Some of the library’s YA books now had wait lists several names deep. A few of the teens had acquired their very first library card that summer.

Merlin took a deep breath and smiled at the excited young people before him. “First of all, did everyone have fun with The Quest this summer?”

The kids clapped and cheered, and Merlin beamed. “Someone tell me about a new book you read.”

They took a few minutes to discuss as a group the books they had enjoyed, their favourite clues, and the clues they struggled with. The shabby basement meeting room was filled with laughter and engaged conversation until finally Elena called out, “We all agree it was a wonderful summer, Merlin. Just tell us who won already!”

“Okay, okay.” Merlin held up his hands in defeat as the kids and Arthur laughed. “I have to say, I was very proud of each and every one of you. You gave this quest your all, and I wish I had prizes for everyone. But one pair stood out beyond the rest. In fact, toward the end of the summer, I was scrambling to create new clues just so they wouldn’t finish and get bored!”

Several mouths dropped open in surprise and Merlin continued, “These two not only solved the clues and checked out loads of books, but they also developed a particular interest in the story of this castle and its impact on the local community. We might have a couple of future historians on our hands!”

Gwen grabbed Lance’s knee at this revelation.

“So without further ado, I would like to present the coveted prize— two season passes to our fabulous Camelot Theatre— to the winners of The Quest…” He paused dramatically and Elena nearly fell out of her chair.

“Elyan and Percy!”

Gwen’s head whipped toward her brother in shock, but she quickly started laughing and shaking her head. “I knew there was a reason you would never tell me which clue you were on.”

Elyan gave her a good-natured shrug as he and Percy stood and walked over to Merlin to accept their prize. The other kids whooped and applauded for the pair who had barely stepped foot in the library before that summer.

Gwaine called out, “Remember what Merlin said when he told us about the prize? Plays are a great way to impress a date. You two will have to take turns taking dates to those shows.”

Percy glanced at Elyan with a subtle quirk of his eyebrows. “Sure. One show I’ll take him. The next show, he can take me.”

Again, mouths dropped open around the circle, but soon the teens were rushing up to Percy and Elyan to congratulate them on their victory and ask about the final few clues.

As the kids continued chattering excitedly, Arthur scooted closer to Merlin and murmured in a quiet voice, “Would you look at that? Eighteen teenagers thrilled to come to the library and read new books and explore new worlds. And not a video game in sight.” He bumped his shoulder against Merlin’s. “I think you created more than one type of magic in the library this summer.”

He planted a kiss on Merlin’s cheek, and Merlin threw his arms around his boyfriend and squeezed tightly, watching the young adults before him laughing and having fun. As he sat there, completely content with his life, his mind was already ticking through possibilities of more programs to engage these incredible young people. Perhaps a creative study of the fantasy genre. After all, Merlin knew loads of fantastic books about magic and dragons.

**Author's Note:**

> Like Merlin, I adore children's and young adult fiction. :-) In case anyone is interested in checking out some of the books mentioned in this story, here's a list of the titles and authors. I recommend all of these books! (P.S. If you read the _Hero's Guide_ books aloud to young fairy tale fans, be prepared for a literal display of rolling on the floor laughing!)
> 
>  _Losing Alaska_ by John Green  
>  _The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy_ by Kate Hattemer  
>  _Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin_ by Liesl Shurtliff  
>  _Hero's Guide_ series by Christopher Healy  
>  _She Is Not Invisible_ by Marcus Sedgwick

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [art for "That Magic Threshold"](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7953616) by [rou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rou/pseuds/rou)




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